Heavy steering sometimes, then back to normal

andycadabra · Post by **andycadabra** » Fri May 25, 2012 3:32 pm

Occasionally, I seem to lose my power steering for a few minutes at a time, and then it comes back to normal. If it's any help, the hydraulic warning light comes on up to a minute after the problem starts - would be more useful if it was the other way round! Could it possibly be slipping belt on the HP pump, or something else caused by lots of coolant loss through the radiator cap nearby!
After too many HG woes looks like I'm going to take the plunge and go for a replacement engine, and wonder whether this is a problem more easily fixed while the engine is being changed?

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Fri May 25, 2012 5:41 pm

Sounds like you might have dirt in the FDV. Have you done the basic check of LHM level?

andycadabra · Post by **andycadabra** » Fri May 25, 2012 5:50 pm

Hi Vanny - yes - the first thing I did was make sure there was enough LHM.
You may be right about the dirt - I must confess I've driven 50,000 miles in it in the last 10 years and never flushed the hydraulic system, and the top of the LHM reservoir doesn't exactly fit tight...

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Fri May 25, 2012 5:58 pm

how quick does she rise on first start up of the day, as it could be dirty tank filter and citro blood,

check the easy things first, possibly also the pump belt tightness as these have to be very tight,

i assume it does it on cornering

as this could be not enough citro blood in the tank as Vanny says

regards malcolm

andycadabra · Post by **andycadabra** » Fri May 25, 2012 6:34 pm

Hi Citronut - Thanks for those tips - I just checked and its about 20 to 24 seconds to rise fully. Not sure where the tank filter is but I'll look it up in a workshop manual.
Of course the problem is worse when cornering, but I think it starts more often than not when I'm driving on the straight.
At the moment there's almost a centimetre of play in the HP pump belt.

Did you get my PM offering you a little work? it's probably no longer feasible, since last night high pressure split one of the hoses at the rear of the engine, which is very hard to get to, and I can only drive a couple miles at a time and that's with the cap off, so I've been getting quotes from local garages to fit the 1.9 TD I've managed to source.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Fri May 25, 2012 7:03 pm

sorry Andy
i did see that pm but discarded it as at the time i found my message box was full, then once i did get it in my inbox i thought it was an old one from Andy ( Mothman ) ,

i will read through it and give you a reply,

regards malcolm

andycadabra · Post by **andycadabra** » Sat May 26, 2012 1:05 pm

Malcolm - no problem! - and thanks for the wealth of advice over the phone!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon May 28, 2012 10:14 pm

I presume a full lhm change is in order & empty the lhm tank & clean it along with the tank filters in petrol?

andycadabra · Post by **andycadabra** » Mon May 28, 2012 10:48 pm

Sounds like a good plan, Mulley, once the 1.9td is in place..

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon May 28, 2012 10:57 pm

I'd run hydraflush through it whilst you're at it, then you know its been done & won't need doing for a while. I'm right in thinking that lhm should be changed every 3yrs or 36k? Mine is probably overdue

andycadabra · Post by **andycadabra** » Mon May 28, 2012 11:10 pm

I noticed it in the 36k service chapter!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon May 28, 2012 11:13 pm

Have you ever changed the lhm in those 10 years on this car

andycadabra · Post by **andycadabra** » Mon May 28, 2012 11:45 pm

You read correctly! but thanks to people like me we know what happens when you dont..

andycadabra · Post by **andycadabra** » Mon May 28, 2012 11:48 pm

Mind you, have had to top it up hugely, sometimes, after leaks etc - do enough of those count as a change?

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Mon May 28, 2012 11:58 pm

I used that justification to extend the actual change and filter clean to 50k miles, but on cleaning the filters when I changed the fluid recently, they did appear quite dirty although the LHM itself was still clean. So I would still remove and clean the filters, even if the LHM is relatively fresh.

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Heavy steering sometimes, then back to normal

Heavy steering sometimes, then back to normal

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