The jalopy has developed an increasingly frequent 'lumpiness' in the power steering. It works normally with some power being delivered to the wheels, i.e. with any throttle on, but on the overrun or with the engine idling at rest there are moments when there is no power assistance and the steering becomes very heavy. I can cope with this but I know Herself won't be able to. The fluid level was low and I topped it up, but the fault remains.
The son-in-law tells me the diesel Grand Cherokee he used to have developed the same fault and needed a new power steering pump. Seems it's a Chrysler weakness. It won't cost the earth, he tells me. But it won't be free either. What a nuisance.
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Belt slipping on the pulley?
Could be a little slack, or maybe contaminated with fluid. You say the fluid level was low, could that be getting on the belt some way?
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>> Could be a little slack, or maybe contaminated with fluid. You say the fluid level was low, could that be getting on the belt some way?
Dunno for sure bt. But it could well have some connection with the squeaking I noticed a couple of weeks ago, which has now stopped. Anyway a new pump is needed before the old one fails completely. That would be a very serious nuisance.
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>> Change the fluid?
Nah. Steering pump on its way out.
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Steering pump on its way out.
My thought too, although it might be a good idea to bleed the system first in case it's just a bit of air in the works.
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Maybe it's a lump in the fluid.
Sorry.
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Drop the beast on someone else's toes.
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Check the lubrication of any universal joint in the steering column.
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>>Steering pump on its way out.
Whole car is on its way out, man.
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Sp and neiltoo helpful, manatee mildly amusing, Rastaman and Perro, thank you for your concern and sod off... there's life in the not-so-old jalopy yet.
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>> >> Change the fluid?
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>> Nah. Steering pump on its way out.
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They never wear out. Fluid gets black and gungy, needs draining, flushing out refilling and bleeding.
Or universal joints as suggested above. But I assumed you had eliminated linkage tightness.
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>> Nah. Steering pump on its way out.
>> They never wear out. Fluid gets black and gungy, needs draining, flushing out refilling and
>> bleeding.
That comment deserves to be in The terrible old jokes thread.
Of course they can wear out!
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One front tyre nearly flat? :-)
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>> That comment deserves to be in The terrible old jokes thread.
>> Of course they can wear out!
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Not in my experience if the fluid is changed once in a while.
Not Volvo steering pumps anyway. Or perhaps the jalopy has covered more than 400,000 miles?
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Power steering pump wore out/broke at 30000 miles in a Discovery I had. Not typical, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.
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Yes, it was the only significant component that failed on my 1998 Saab 9-3. Around the 40,000 mark, I think. Happened while it was being serviced, so the only inconvenience to me was keeping the courtesy car for the night until the part arrived. Company car too, so no bill either.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Mon 23 Mar 15 at 14:08
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I think I had one which used to make a noise on full lock. Can't remember which car it was though. I do slightly remember it grumbling although it never actually failed. Might have been the Ka come to think.
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I think a lot of power-steered cars used to make a bump-bump-bump noise on full lock. It was in the mid-1990s, when PAS was spreading but not yet universal, so drivers were suddenly able to reach the ends of the rack, which had required too much effort in the cars they were used to. I remember my 1993 Astra doing it, so I learned not quite to apply full lock. I suspect modern cars are designed with this in mind to stop it happening.
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Garage man says the pump can't be bled, or is self-bleeding. Car is booked in for Wednesday.
There was a bit of tooth-sucking about Chrysler parts prices. I muttered something about 'pattern parts'. He muttered something in reply. Fingers crossed.
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>> Should be able to get a pump for around £50
I hope so CGN, but I'm not going to get it myself. The garage man will do it. He's always been honest and I trust him. There's a discount spares place near here, but doubtless he has his own sources.
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No guarantee as I've never done it, but it did seem reasonable when I saw Ed China do it on one of the countless showings of Wheeler Dealers. He bled a new pump from dry by going from lock to lock while keeping the fluid reservoir full.
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>> No guarantee as I've never done it, but it did seem reasonable when I saw
>> Ed China do it on one of the countless showings of Wheeler Dealers. He bled
>> a new pump from dry by going from lock to lock while keeping the fluid
>> reservoir full.
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probably best done whilst the wheels are off the ground? I also had heard of that as a way to clear trapped air. must be worth a try.
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>> Garage man says the pump can't be bled, or is self-bleeding.
You bleed it by slowly moving the steering from lock to lock, wheels jacked up.
You can replace the fluid by either sucking it out with a turkey baster, refilling, running for a bit to circulate, then repeating the process, or for a more complete flush and refil, remove the return pipe and point into a glass jar, and while the engine idles, feed in fresh fluid until the outlet runs clear.
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I'm told that the Chrysler main dealer price for a steering pump is only £4 more than the price of a pattern part. More importantly, the fluid used in the Chrysler pump is 'special' in some way.
So it's possible that I have caused this problem myself by topping up the fluid reservoir with ordinary Comma steering fluid.
Damage will be around £400 they say, parts and labour. Not free then, but not a chuck-the-car-away disaster either.
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>> So it's possible that I have caused this problem myself by topping up the fluid
>> reservoir with ordinary Comma steering fluid.
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Yes, a quick Google says Chrysler now recommend ATF not power steering fluid.
But a poster with the same problem said he drained out the fluid, flushed it out, and refilled with the correct fluid, which fixed it. Seemed to be caused by aeration causing frothing and erratic action.
I'd always try flushing and refilling before condemning units. I've found that with pumps, axles and gearboxes.
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AC hope your guy has thought to draw off the fluid and check the fine mesh screen at the bottom of the PAS reservoir... this can be blocked and gives very similar symptoms to pump failure.
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He's pretty good. No doubt when they have it on the lift they'll check all that. But TBH I doubt it would cost all that much less to fiddle with it for hours than to stick a new pump in and have done with it.
Cars are expensive as well as dangerous, polluting and essentially reactionary. I just want it to behave normally so that Herself can drive it when necessary.
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>> But TBH I doubt it would cost all that much less to fiddle with
>> it for hours than to stick a new pump in and have done with it.
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£400 you said for the whole job, compared with half an hour of your time just to drain, check filter, refill and swing the wheel a few times to bleed.
I've bought good working cars for less than that. But then I don't have Lud's money. :)
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>> half an hour of your time just to drain, check filter, refill and swing the wheel a few times to bleed.
Even if I had a garage, CP, which despite all my alleged money I haven't felt able to afford, I think half an hour would be pretty brisk. I used to do that sort of thing out of doors in the mud and gravel and the wind and rain, but I don't any more.
I doubt if I'm the only person here who could do it if pushed, but would much prefer to pay someone else to do it now if only to avoid suffering, strained muscles, skinned knuckles, polluted cuticles, neck ache, baths in the middle of the day and extra laundry activities. The essential thing is to know an honest and competent mechanic.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 13:44
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Lumpy steering - bathtub tom
