Howdy folks. I have an issue on a new project of mine (more details later :wink: ) The car is a '73 V8 auto that belonged to a friend of mine. A couple of months ago the power assisted steering pretty much stopped assisting. Very heavy. Nothing was obviously wrong to look at it so first I changed the filter (hopeful I know but it worked on another car I had.) No difference though so I figured it was probably the pump as this had been leaking quite badly anyway.
I rekitted a spare pump with new seals and bearing and fitted it, started the car, moved it around the yard and it seemed fine so he took the car away.
He called me a few days later to say that it hadn't made any difference and another mechanic had looked at it and proclaimed the box to be faulty. I dragged a spare box out of the shed and fitted that, drove it 'round the block. Seemed fine so sent it on it's way again. A week later and I got the call that it was still not working right. There was some assistance but it wouldn't self centre at all. If you turned the wheel while driving, it stayed there until you moved it back. And it felt stiff.
I was unsure of the history of the box i'd fitted so I pulled the box out of a parts car that had been running and driving fine and fitted this last weekend. No difference. :x
I'm thinking that the odds of two boxes having exactly the same fault is rather slim so I think I can eliminate the box as a suspect now.
I then jacked the car up and gave everything a good shake and found that the idler had a LOT of play. Aha I think, maybe it's binding and causing trouble. So in goes a spare steering idler. Drove the car round the block, much better. Still not good at centering but not stiff anymore.
Today I moved the car out to do a few jobs on it and we are back where we were. Stiff and tight. :x :x :x And pretty much the same with the wheels off the ground too.
There isn't much else to look at. Did I cock up the pump rebuild at the start? Could the HP hose be blocked? Siezed balljoint? (i've checked the lhs) What am I missing? Anyone else had this issue? Why does it seem better every time I change something then revert back to it's problematic self shortly after?
Any ideas?
I rekitted a spare pump with new seals and bearing and fitted it, started the car, moved it around the yard and it seemed fine so he took the car away.
He called me a few days later to say that it hadn't made any difference and another mechanic had looked at it and proclaimed the box to be faulty. I dragged a spare box out of the shed and fitted that, drove it 'round the block. Seemed fine so sent it on it's way again. A week later and I got the call that it was still not working right. There was some assistance but it wouldn't self centre at all. If you turned the wheel while driving, it stayed there until you moved it back. And it felt stiff.
I was unsure of the history of the box i'd fitted so I pulled the box out of a parts car that had been running and driving fine and fitted this last weekend. No difference. :x
I'm thinking that the odds of two boxes having exactly the same fault is rather slim so I think I can eliminate the box as a suspect now.
I then jacked the car up and gave everything a good shake and found that the idler had a LOT of play. Aha I think, maybe it's binding and causing trouble. So in goes a spare steering idler. Drove the car round the block, much better. Still not good at centering but not stiff anymore.
Today I moved the car out to do a few jobs on it and we are back where we were. Stiff and tight. :x :x :x And pretty much the same with the wheels off the ground too.
There isn't much else to look at. Did I cock up the pump rebuild at the start? Could the HP hose be blocked? Siezed balljoint? (i've checked the lhs) What am I missing? Anyone else had this issue? Why does it seem better every time I change something then revert back to it's problematic self shortly after?
Any ideas?