Steering problems when hot

[akw666]

Hello,

My defender (1991 200 tdi) has begun to have problems with it's steering. When it occurs the steering feels really weird, especially in slow corners. The steering wheel moves in jerks, and tries strongly to pull back to centre. It is basically undriveable when this occurs. It only happens when the engine is well warmed up - typically about 15-20 mins into a journey. I've had local garages look at it a couple of times, but they can't find any problem (unfortunately there aren't any reliable Landrover specialists where I live). Once the vehicle has been left overnight, then it's OK again by morning.

Anybody any ideas what might be causing this? Power steering pump on way out for example?

Thanks

AKW

[Aragorn]

Have you checked the fluid level? Notchyness can be a sign of low fluid, overheating fluid, failing pump, split line etc etc. Essentially the pressure drops out momentarily, which causes it to feel stiff as you've lost all assistance. The pressure then returns and you get assistance for a short time then it drops out again.

[Simon Smith]

Squirt some wd40 or similar on the column UJ's. 99 times out of 100 these are the cause of notchy steering, and though the WD40 is only a temporary fix, it should confirm whether this is the cause or not.

Mine was the same, worse with the engine hot (not sure why) but perfectly ok if it was pissing down with rain, or just cold.

[akw666]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I've checked the fluid and wd40'd the universal joints. Fluid was OK and wd40 didn't seem to make a difference. Mechanic did find a leak in one of the radiator hoses so it was running hot for a while - but this has been fixed and it's still doing it.

[Giles]

you might try draining and replacing the ps fluid (pop it in your diesel tank afterwards;)