Notchy Steering

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Dominic
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Notchy Steering

Post by Dominic »

Steering feels decidely odd on the TZD. Plenty of fluid (feels like a conventional power steering set-up with not enough fluid) and she's got new arms, driveshafts/CV joints, lower ball joints, so I don't thing its a bush thing. Getting tired of 'threepenny bitting' corners. Might be just my imagination, but feels worse in the morning from cold start. Any ideas?
Dom
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Tim Leech
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by Tim Leech »

Sounds like a tired pump to me Dominic. When was the LHM and accumulator last changed.
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by citronut »

how quick dose she get up first thing in any day,

are the tank filters clean,

could also be air ingress via split/perished suction pick up from the tank to the pump,

or just air in the system from possible work that had been carried out at some stage

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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by Defender110 »

Universal joint on steering column drying up and seizing?
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by MULLEY »

Cheap things to try 1st, pump belt needs to be very tight, check tank filters & clean accordingly. Is the lhm clean? if not do a full lhm change, its cheap but time consuming. Not sure how easy access is to the UJ that Kevan has mentioned? but again that might be a cheap fix with some grease needing to be applied. If all of those don't sort it, then as long as your tick time is ok, then the pump is tired :( or as Malcolm has suggested, perhaps there is air getting into the system? If you open up the top of the lhm tank, is there lots of frothing inside it (i'd use a torch to make it easier to see this) then air is the issue, or it may be a combination of some or all of the above.
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by rutter123 »

Typical lazy hyd pump symptoms, prob getting worse due to the cold weather.
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michaelr
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by michaelr »

Make very sure that the pump drive belt is not slipping. As mentioned it needs to be tight and slipping will load up the steering intermittently.

I had a similar problem when I overfilled the radiator (silly design with the expansion tank built into the side of the radiator) and the overflow splashed on the vee belt.
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themildbunch
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by themildbunch »

The weak pump theory is most likely IMO.. I have had the same issue for a while. Power assistance intermittent for a short while in cold weather, when fine once the LHM has warmed up and likely got less viscous...
You might find using hydraflush or a mixture would help as it's thinner but not such a good idea to leave it in for too long -

There's a DIY pump rebuild thread somewhere but it needs a big puller!

Pleiades still sell recon pumps with a warranty but given it's not such a big job to swap I'd try some scrap ones first if you can get one or two cheaply....
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badlyworntoy
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by badlyworntoy »

I had this problem on the 16v. Every morning I would haveto fight the steering for about 2 miles and then it would go knotchy and that was the best it got. I changed the steering ram and HP pump which made no difference and it turned out to be the Flow Divertor Valve.
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2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
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1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by MULLEY »

I'd forgotten about the FDV, that should be cheaper to replace than a pump.
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
Dominic
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by Dominic »

Thanks for the suggestions - its gonna be a green fingers weekend, I reckon. :mrgreen: I have a spare pump, LHM looks clean enough, but not sure about filters.

What is/Where is the Flow Divertor Valve?
Dom
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by RobC »

The FDV is adjacent to the pressure regulator (which has the accumulator (the 'fifth') green sphere on it), on the front of the engine.

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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by citsncycles »

I have the flow diverter valve to do on Timex I think. The pump is good, as is the accumulator, but the tick time is like that of a flat accumulator and it's slow to build up pressure. The power steering feels notchy for the first couple of miles in cold weather, or if the rest of the system is working hard (like braking on a rough surface on a bend), but sorts itself out when it warms up.
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Tim Leech
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by Tim Leech »

Dominic wrote:Thanks for the suggestions - its gonna be a green fingers weekend, I reckon. :mrgreen: I have a spare pump, LHM looks clean enough, but not sure about filters.

What is/Where is the Flow Divertor Valve?
For the cost I would change the LHM anyway
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
HZman
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Re: Notchy Steering

Post by HZman »

Had that for over a year, sometimes wondered if it was going to get round a roundabout but just got used to it. Flushed the LHM system, changed the steering rack no difference. Recon pump fitted, different car!
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