1.6 SX - Steering stiff at low speeds

[Greggo]

Hi,

Ever since I've had my Leon since Feb I've always found at low speeds the steering can be stiff, that is slow manoeuvres or turning slow around a corner. I've always made sure plenty of air in tyres. In May steering rack was replaced due to a bad leak which emptied all the fluid within seconds but the heavy steering has always remained even with new rack. Ok at speed but a pain at low speeds. I used to have a 2002 Leon and I never remember that feeling like this.

I had 4 new tyres put on recently and this has improved a lot, however i can still detect a stiffness at lower speeds and sometimes the lights might ever so slightly dim when turning the wheel.

I checked alternator with a multimeter and all is fine. Only thing to note is that the aux belt is squeaky, but cant see any play in the pulleys.

Could the belt be the culprit in this case, or could it be an issue with the pump itself? Anything else I can check?

Thanks

Greg

 

[mty12345]

Hi mate. Having no fluid in the pump can cause it to overheat and be damaged as the fluid is used as a coolant too. i would imagine this is a likely cause for your issues, especially if it was driven for any amount of time with no fluid in there.

 

[Greggo]

It was heavy before the issues with the rack, but I know what you are saying.

I luckily caught the leak early as I pulled into my work car park that time and then heard a loud grinding and when I checked under the nearside front wheel there was a puddle of fluid. I popped the bonnet and checked PS resevoir and it had leaked most of its fluid out, but not all.

I didn't drive it after that - I bought some more fluid (luckily a halfords nearby) so I topped it up, ran the engine for a minute and within seconds could see it all gushing out of the nearside gaitor and then powered off the engine straight away. I had to call breakdown recovery who said a seal had gone and I got it towed to a garage for a new rack.

Its been ok since then, but still the lack of assistance at low speed, unless there was a pre-existing issue with rack prior to me buying car and it had been run low before. Is a new pump easy-ish to fit if that is the issue?

 

[mty12345]

I'm not sure of the layout of the 1.6 engine bay, most pumps are easy to fit though.

 

[Yellow fr]

It could be the bearings in the shocker tops that have worn or even worse seized have you jacked the car up at the front so both wheels are off the ground try and turn them from lock to lock should be easy to do if not the bearings in the top mounts are seized and you will need new ones try both sides you don’t need the engine running as no weight on them so should turn from lock to lock easy


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