Saxo - power steering only works after a while

[john_p]

2000 Saxo VTR

Power steering doesn't work until about 10-15 mins after starting the car, can't see any blown fuses and the fluid level looks fine. Demister/blower work fine so it's not the ignition switch problem. Any ideas what to check ? Seems to have been some bodge work done to the relay near the electric pump so I wonder if this is worth testing first.

[john_p]

There's a black relay behind the offside headlight that looks like it's been spliced into the cable at some point, does this mean it's been replaced at some point in the past? Unsure, as the loom also feeds the radiator fan so might feed be that. I'll try bridging that relay with a cable and see if the pump is getting 12v.

[john_p]

So I did some Googling and it said.. try tapping the pump with a hammer

so I did

and it works!

I assume it will need a new PAS pump at some point or the existing one rebuilt..