Alfa 145QV - Power Steering Pump Issues. Please help!

Alfa 145QV - Power Steering Pump Issues. Please help!

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effkay

Original Poster:

737 posts

188 months

Tuesday 29th July 2014
quotequote all
I've had my Alfa 145 for 3+ years now and it mainly gets used for track days once every month or 2.

Two months ago the original (16 year old) power steering pump failed at Pembrey - fluid came out of the seal around the shaft to the drive belt pulley. The pump had been noisy and steering getting heavier over the previous 6 months so I assumed this failure was just down to its age.

We replaced the pump with a reconditioned and tested unit and it felt great for a few days driving on the road, however after about 6 laps at Llandow on Saturday, it again failed at the pump seal without any warning.

I don't want to replace the pump again if there is an underlying issue causing this, as its quite an involved job. I've been told the pump has an internal pressure relief valve that diverts the high pressure fluid back to the low pressure inlet pipe. Is this correct?

Could the steering rack be causing any issue? Would it be best to replace this at the same time as the pump? Could there be debris in the pipes from the previous failure causing this sudden failure?

Any help, comments and ideas would be gratefully received, otherwise I'm tempted to run a shorter drive belt for the alternator and just live with the unassisted steering.

Thanks in advance!