Puzzling symptoms. Steering fault?

[vicegrip]

Golf Mk5 1.9TDI 2008 (high mileage)

Posting on behalf of my daughter. I'd be grateful if anyone has any ideas about this:

• Driving uphill accelerating.

• Rev needle swung wildly (without change in car speed) and then, (seconds later I gather), car lurched to left a couple of times and needed corrected. These lurches were quite significant - much more than torque steer.

• Stopped to check tyres as thought it felt like blowout, and noticed yellow warning light on dashboard - thinks it was steering fault light.

• That light was off on restart but engine management light and battery light were on.

• Both were off after another restart and short journey home was uneventful.

???

UPDATE
Engine is cutting out (then restarts OK)
Smell and some fumes under bonnet, which sounds consistent with burning insulation.
So this looks like an electrical short imho.

[swalker]

class a smell that sounds, can you hear colours?
lol
To me your description is telling me a slipping clutch, and torque steer when it bites.

[vicegrip]

I thought the description of the smell and fumes sounded consistent with an electrical short.
Slipping clutch? nah. Torque steer (when it "bit") would not be too the left anyway. Also, clutch has been recently replaced & clutch wouldn't cause steering light to come on.
It sounds as if battery is flat today - again consistent with a short I'd have thought.

[Crasher]

Sounds like something is loose post clutch such as a subframe bolt as these are one time only torque to yield stretch bolts but often are reused. If the lights were on code are stored and you need to know what these are. Clutch burning stench is quite distinctive, acrid and lingering, once inhaled, never forgotten.

[vicegrip]

For the interest of anyone who comes here with similar symptoms:

The car was "recovered" and taken to a local garage.
The recovery man thought the problem/burning smell was from alternator or alternator wiring harness.

The garage said the alternator and battery had failed, (refused to fit "customer supplied" parts), so fitted expensive ones of their choice and the car then drove normally after we coughed up more than the initial cost of the car.

I suspect it didn't need a new battery. I've got my hands on the old one. It was down to 8V so must have been below 12.4 for over two (frost free) weeks, which is bad, but it is only just over only a year old and is currently taking a charge and displays just over 13V when charger is switched off. In my experience, leaving a battery flat is bad, but doesn't ruin it instantly.

The failed alternator was a WAI purchased from GSF just over a year ago - so I expect to be avoiding them in future.

Why the steering fault? Could abnormal system voltage fluctuations cause the power steering to cut out without being noticed, then cut in again? Just a guess.

[Crasher]

The steering is fully electrically assisted and depends on a good power supply not only for the motor but also the ECU.