Power steering box

[Tomas]

Hi there,

This is on behalf of my friend with 110 - 200 Tdi - 4 bolts power steering box.

There seems to be some interesting problem with the power steering box:

To turn the steering wheel, first there is no support from the power steering box. Just after about 1/2 turn, the power kicks in and the rest of turning is well supported by the power steering box. To turn to the other side - the same story: fistrst nothing and than it kicks in.

According to the service history, a new power steering box has been fitted just 2 and 1/2 years ago. So, one would say it should still be OK.

There is no obvious leak anywhere and the steering liquid is at the max level and does not move.

Can somebody help us with this puzzle?

Thanks in advance,

Tomas

p.s.:

The obvious cause of this problem is the fact that his wife has been driving this car for last three weeks :-)

But wee need to find out what the problem is and how to fix it.

[soutie]

Tomas

Check the sterring UJ's first as what you describe could be the UJ's seizing up. I had this once on a trip across Spain. Changed Steering UJ's and problem gone.

I have also read on the forum that if you spay soak the UJ's in WD40 is free's them up. You could try that to see if that helps first and then decide an how to proceed.

[Tomas]

Tomas

Check the sterring UJ's first as what you describe could be the UJ's seizing up. I had this once on a trip across Spain. Changed Steering UJ's and problem gone.

I have also read on the forum that if you spay soak the UJ's in WD40 is free's them up. You could try that to see if that helps first and then decide an how to proceed.

Thanks,

However I'm not sure about the UJ's. If that were them, there would be a delay in the car doing the actual move. But this is not the case. I can say that the steering and the car reaction to the steering wheel movement is sharp. It's only the power that is missing in the first 1/2 steering wheel turn.

[Tomas]

Hey all,

I know - this is not really sexy topic, however I would really be happy for some more advices.

- Can there be an air inside the box? If so, how to get rid of it?

- Can there be some inner seal broken?

- etc.

Thanks in advance,

Tomas

[Les Henson]

There should be a bleed nipple on the top cover of the steering box. There's a pair of valves inside the box as well. but as far as I know you can't overhaul these units yourself unless you have a handle on a parts supplier. There's also the consideration that it's the pump that's the problem.

Les.

[FridgeFreezer]

I'm not sure about the UJ's. If that were them, there would be a delay in the car doing the actual move. But this is not the case. I can say that the steering and the car reaction to the steering wheel movement is sharp. It's only the power that is missing in the first 1/2 steering wheel turn.

A UJ can be stiff without having play in it, and if all it costs is a squirt of WD40 it's surely worth a try?

[LandyManLuke]

As Fridge said, just because there's no play, doesn't mean the UJs are clear.

A friend had this exact same problem, wd40 cured it for a day or two, new UJs solved it completely.

[Mark90]

If it is stuff uj's you'll soon find out as the next step is usually leaking input shaft on steering box and/or stuffed bearing it bottom of column due to the extra load induced by the stiff uj's.

I would check the uj's and bleed the box as suggested.