Pump or box?

[Suvvey]

The steering on my 110 has always seemed to heavy and a little unpredictable but after replacing most of the ball joints and then removing what I believed to be a dodgy damper I thought I had solved it. However when I finally replaced the damper with a new Britpart one it seemed just as heavy although far more predictable than before. So I just put it down to it being the way it was :roll:

In the last week it has started to give occasional trouble in the way of becoming exceptionally heavy for brief moments whilst turning at low speed. At first I thought it may of been prop wind up as whilst laning at the weekend I had had a bit of trouble getting the difflock light to stay on when engaged (it flickered quite badly and would go out completely whilst reversing) so thought maybe it wasn't unlocking properly either. But after jacking up a wheel it all behaved as it should with the lock on or off.  Cleaning off all the crud and a good dose of wd40 on the linkages and wire seemed to sort out the light too.

So I'm guessing it is either the power steering pump or box :( but how can I narrow it down? Neither have any leaks or make any worrying noises and the belt is correctly tensioned. I may try bleeding the box tomorrow just to make sure but I tried this when I first got it. I've also tried adjusting it at the box incase it was overtightened but if anything it need some slack taken up.

I have heard people say it isn't worth fitting a seal kit on the box as they never last long but is this true or maybe just cheap parts???

[Saffy]

hi, if it helps the only time the steering goes stiff on mine is when the belt slips on the steering pump pulley. It's only very brief and happens only after going through deep water/ puddle splash. Miens a 300tdi with serpentine belt so harder to slip. Anyway... the steering goes stiff because of the pump, maybe check the belt tension? 

[topless matt]

Hi suvvey, have you checked the ujs on the steering column in the engine bay.
My steering got heavy and unopredictable when one of them seized partly.  Not a hard job to remove to see if they are the cause and a hell of a lot cheaper than a new pump/box.
If it is still causing trouble, put a magnet in the power steering resivour when the engine is running and see if and metal comes out with it........ if it does the whole system will need replacing, both the pump and the box as the metal swarf will have done a lot of internal damage. I know from experiance about that!

[Suvvey]

Hi Matt

I know one of the UJ's has a little play in it but I haven't checked them to see if they are siezed so will take a look today. If I can find a suitable magnet I'll give that a go too :?

As for the tension I did notice a few weeks back that it had worked a little loose but tightened it back up and it still seems ok now.

[Suvvey]

Checked the UJ's and they seem ok but gave a good soaking in WD40 anyway. Didn't seem to make much difference.

Made an effort today to try and put my finger on exactly what it is that feels wrong about it. Best way to describe it is as if the damper gives no resistance at all for the first 1/2 turn of the steering wheel and then it suddenly overcompensates and becomes very tight until the speed the steering wheel is turned has slowed down and then it goes light again. Could it be that the new damper is duff? It was only a cheap basic britpart one, anyone know of these having any quality issues or is this unlikely? Is it that the power steering system isn't providing enough assistance and what I can feel is the damper doing the job it is meant to do?

 :(

[topless matt]

Did you take the ujs off to test them, if not you really need to, they wont show up as seized if they are still on the shaft.
Still think that it is a uj problem that is giving you those symptoms, identical to what i used to get

[jimthelandyman]

Also check the steering column where the UJ's are attatched because the actual shaft should move up and down, it compromises of two shafts that slide past each other. I did a UJ on mine a couple of months back and the shaft was seized solid making it very difficult to get the UJ off.

[Suvvey]

Didn't take them off but tried turning shaft by hand then turned wheel a 1/4 turn and repeated until I had done 360 degrees. Seem to move freely within the slack area.

Still feels to me as though it is the other side of the pump as the feedback through the wheel still feels 'smooth' rather than how I would expect it to feel if it was on the unassisted side. 

Probably take damper off again today or tomorrow and see if I can still feel anything. Although with less resistance there I know it could just mask the problem.

[Suvvey]

Hmmmm. Didn't take the damper off today as it did actually feel a lot better on the way into work :-. Not 100% still a little heavier than I think it should and still occasionally a little bit of resistance but definately not as bad as it has been this last week.

So maybe it is something to do with the UJ's? Oil has just had a bit more time to penetrate? Well I won't get a chance to take them right off untill the weekend so will keep adding some WD every day and see if it improves in the meantime [-o<

[topless matt]

I can assure you that it will be one of the ujs mate.
WD40 will help but you will need to replace one or both.
Just dont forget to keep using WD40 or it will suddenly go stiff on you again.....inuendo bingo!