Stiff steering!?

[Phil_Edge]

Now - I've not been for a blat in a while, but I'm not 100% convinced that that alone explains the feeling that the steering's "stiff".

Power steering need checking out? Anything to check easily?

Concerned it might be something serious, which could potentially get worse!

[AlVal]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

theres the thread you need!

[Gazzab]

Steering joint in the wheel arch. Clean it up and away you go?! Or maybe replace it.

[Phil_Edge]

Checked steering fluid levels, and looks ok.

Looked at what I can, obviously, and no leaks. Check the floor, nothing, even after turning the wheel a bit to pressurise the system.

Also took her out for a good long drive, got everything up temperature, and saw some good heat saturation, but didn't really improve the stiffness.

Check tyre pressures too.

Now what's this about the steering joint? I've done plenty of digging - but only found references to it... nothing on the "how to" front. Might make sense if its exposed, especially as I got caught a couple of times on M-ways in the wet...

Is it a "hands and knees + WD40" job, or more involved? Any pointers welcomed.

Cheers - Phil.

p.s. Should I be driving with stiff steering - is a catastrophic failure just around the corner, or is it literally, just stiff?

[Gazzab]

UV joint - do a search?

[neilus]

Phil_Edge said:

Is it a "hands and knees + WD40" job, or more involved? Any pointers welcomed.

Put the steering on full left hand lock, you should then be able to see the UJ if you look in the drivers wheel arch.

Spray liberally with WD40.

Neil.

[oli_quick]

haha - nice to see when I had mine I paid over £600 to have the joint sealed...oh...lovely mechanics...like magnets to my money....

[morebeanz]

You'll find it responds very well to a good dose of degreaser and a proper scrub with car wash. Use a bottle brush to clean out all the bits, and it'll be right.

Of course that assumes that is the problem!

[Ireland]

Grease the gear on the steering box of the rack (as per the link in the post above).

[Phil_Edge]

Found the joint, was caked, but not as badly as I was perhaps expecting.

Cleaned it off as well as possible and added a good dose of trusty WD40.

Bingo. Better than before.

Strange how it literally came on all of a sudden.

Still - fixed the problem completely.

Thanks all!