UK Car Repair: help me plz, vauxhall astra, power steering pump

Question
my car as lost power steering and the battery light is staying on its a vauxhall astra 1-7 turbo diesel

Answer
Hi Gina, it sounds to me like a clear cut case of a broken drive belt (also called a serpentine belt) which drives the alternator and the power steering pump and I am not sure but may also drive the water pump for coolant. It's an easy and inexpensive repair (around £10-£15 for the belt and probably another £20-£30 to have it fitted) I would recommend not driving the car as the engine will cut out completely and before that it is likely to overheat and this causes massive engine damage if it happens.

here are some useful links for you : (simply copy and paste them into your address bar)

http://www.breakeryard.com/cars/make/VAUXHALL/Astra.aspx

http://autorepair.about.com/library/weekly/aa071205a.htm

http://www.webcrawler.com/webcrawler200/ws/results/Web/serpentine+belt/1/417/Top...
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http://www.webcrawler.com/webcrawler200/ws/redir/qcat=Web/qcoll=relevance/qkw=Ch...

Of course there is always the local Halfords.
hope these help you and good luck, if you are feeling adventurous and can get a diagram from a haynes manual you could change it yourself- thanks - Paul