saab 9-3 vector 1.9td

[grae]

guys, having an issue with my steering, started to feel heavy as if the power steering pump is failing. also getting a "knock" from nearside front whilst driving.i had both wheel bearings replaced recently so not sure whats making the noise but its driving me crazy!!!!.
any idea's please ???

[parabolica]

Steering: have you checked the fluid level? A drain plug on my 05 Aero managed to unwind itself and fluid had leaked out. Failing that, maybe the pump.

Knock: check your springs and drop links to see what condition they are in; both are fragile on the 93. Failing that if it’s on its original tie-rod ends they are known to bind up and cause issues - my dad’s front end clunks and knocks and we’ve thoroughly checked everything visual - tie rod ends are the likely culprit. Nothing broken per-se, just annoying.

[LimSlip]

The symptoms are not necessarily related. Heavy steering on these is often caused by the UJs that join the column to the rack seizing up, usualy the one closer to the rack as it's in the engine bay and exposed to rain/grit etc. Cleaning and then working plenty of spray grease into them can resolve this (don't use WD40 etc.), new parts are very expensive.

Knocking whilst driving is a common symptom of worn drop links, though it's quite possible something wasn't properly tightened when the wheel bearings were replaced so check that first.