200tdi power steering heavy

[The Suffolk Ram]

Morning all

I've Had one of those months, so far in the last 28 days my wheel bearing has leaked and seals had to be replaced, a UJ went, my fuel tank started leaking and had to be replace and now to top it off my power steering is playing up!

It went yesterday as i was driving to work, the steering went from being light to very heavy (to the point of having to use two hands to turn it on a tight cornor) i've checked the fluid level and that seems fine, and the belt to the pump is in ok condition and tight, i've had someone watch the pump as the engine was running and i was putting the wheels lock-to-lock and it was rotating fine, and their is no noise from it to make me think it was slipping.

AS i'm turning the wheel, every quater turn or so it goes from heavy to light to heavy agian.

Any throughs?

Thanks all.

[errol209]

Steering column UJs?

[The Suffolk Ram]

I'll have a look at them.

[errol209]

I'll have a look at them.

They might just need greasing, but they do wear as well A squirt of WD40 will give you an idea what's happening.

[Mo Murphy]

Like wheel bearings and UJs, the column UJs should be a regular maintenance job. All part of the joys of Land Rover ownership

Mo

[The Suffolk Ram]

Right update.

The UJs feel pretty solid, tried WD-40 on all the joints and it was a lot better almost back to normal, what should i use to do a proper greasing job? i've got some thick stuff i used on the backs of my brake pads to stop them sticking, would that do? or should i just use the WD them whenever it gets heavy?

Hopefully once i've sorted this and got the fuel guage working agian after the tank swap i'll have some troble free motoring for a while!

[Retroanaconda]

WD-40 is a temporary fix in my opinion, shows up the problem though. I'd replace them.

I'm about to replace both on my 110 in the next few days (when the new ones arrive ), I will do a write-up for it as no such thing exists as far as I can tell!

[western]

I've coated mine with light oil & a smear of LM grease.

[Mo Murphy]

I give mine a real good dosing of 3-in-1 oil which seems to last better than the wd40 I used to use.

HTH

Mo

[errol209]

I give mine a real good dosing of 3-in-1 oil which seems to last better than the wd40 I used to use.

HTH

Mo

Wahey! Glad you found the issue. I agree with the above, give 'em a good greasing (they are a poor design - no nipples anywhere ). I suggested WD40 to test only, I don't recommend it as a long term fix either!

[Retroanaconda]

I'm about to replace both on my 110 in the next few days (when the new ones arrive ), I will do a write-up for it as no such thing exists as far as I can tell!

I did intend to do one, but unfortunately I forgot to take my camera

But if you haven't already done it, this is the procedure I just used.

1. Set the wheels in the straight ahead position.
2. Take note of which way around the UJs go, the top one has the 'larger' bit at the bottom, and the general orientation of the shaft (for access to the bolts/nuts).
3. Remove all the nuts/bolts.
4. Tap the top of the top UJ down the shaft until it comes off the steering column.
5. You should then be able to pull (or tap) the bottom UJ off the steering box input shaft.
6. Remove the shaft assembly with both UJs on the ends from the vehicle.
7. Remove the UJs (take note of the way they go on the ends of the shafts, the flats in the shaft have to line up with the split in the UJ so that the bolts will go through).
8. Clean up the splines on both ends of the steering shaft and both exposed bits in the engine bay.
9. Re-fit the new UJs to both ends of the shaft, and manoeuvre into position in the engine bay.
10. Slide the bottom UJ onto the box input shaft as far as it will go.
11. Then carefully (ie. without turning the steering wheel shaft and messing up the alignment) slide the upper UJ up and onto the splines of the steering column.
12. Check the alignment of the steering wheel to see that it hasn't changed.
13. Move the UJs up or down as necessary to enable the bolts to be slid through.
14. Do them up nice and tight (ideally with new nyloc nuts).

And that should be it, too me about five minutes, but then mine were VERY loose on the shafts

[Andy]

I give mine a real good dosing of 3-in-1 oil which seems to last better than the wd40 I used to use.

HTH

Mo

I used to do this every three months or so when I had a disco. never bothered to change them as they didn't have any play.