E46 PAS failiure

[buggalugs]

Hope someone can help?

It's a year 2000 328i - I was just apexing a roundabout yesterday when the power steering failed. For a split second it felt like it had locked up completely but then I realised I'd just lost all assistance - and apparently a 328i on 17's needs a lot of assistance!

The fluid looks fine, the belt is on and the pump is spinning, there are no strange noises at all, no leaks. It's weird.

It might be a co-incidence but at the exact moment of the failiure I got a couple of short bursts of electronic sounding interference through the radio. Aliens right??


Anyway are there any known weak points there? Is it likley to be the pump or the rack?

Cheers
Neil

[4rephill]

buggalugs said:

Hope someone can help?

It's a year 2000 328i - I was just apexing a roundabout yesterday when the power steering failed. For a split second it felt like it had locked up completely but then I realised I'd just lost all assistance - and apparently a 328i on 17's needs a lot of assistance!

It's not really because it's a 328i on 17's, it's because you're having to fight against the pressure loss in the system. Any car with hydraulic power assistance would feel much the the same (although the extra width of the tyres would add a little bit to the problem).

buggalugs said:

The fluid looks fine, the belt is on and the pump is spinning, there are no strange noises at all, no leaks. It's weird.

It might be a co-incidence but at the exact moment of the failiure I got a couple of short bursts of electronic sounding interference through the radio. Aliens right??


Anyway are there any known weak points there? Is it likley to be the pump or the rack?

Cheers
Neil

Doing a google of: "BMW e46 temporary power steering pump failure" it appears that cars of around your cars age do have some history of power steering pump failures.

See:
http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=...
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=8335...
http://www.windigoauto.com/E46CommonProblems.html (bottom of list)
http://www.bmpdesign.com/technical/power_steering_...

And sound familiar?: http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=94...

[buggalugs]

4rephill said:

buggalugs said:

Hope someone can help?

It's a year 2000 328i - I was just apexing a roundabout yesterday when the power steering failed. For a split second it felt like it had locked up completely but then I realised I'd just lost all assistance - and apparently a 328i on 17's needs a lot of assistance!

It's not really because it's a 328i on 17's, it's because you're having to fight against the pressure loss in the system. Any car with hydraulic power assistance would feel much the the same (although the extra width of the tyres would add a little bit to the problem).

buggalugs said:

The fluid looks fine, the belt is on and the pump is spinning, there are no strange noises at all, no leaks. It's weird.

It might be a co-incidence but at the exact moment of the failiure I got a couple of short bursts of electronic sounding interference through the radio. Aliens right??


Anyway are there any known weak points there? Is it likley to be the pump or the rack?

Cheers
Neil

Doing a google of: "BMW e46 temporary power steering pump failure" it appears that cars of around your cars age do have some history of power steering pump failures.

See:
http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=...
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=8335...
http://www.windigoauto.com/E46CommonProblems.html (bottom of list)
http://www.bmpdesign.com/technical/power_steering_...

And sound familiar?: http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=94...

Cheers. It's not temporary, but I'll probably change both the rack and the pump in that case. I was hoping it would just be the rack as that had a bit of play in it anyway. So sod's law dictates that of course it would be the pump

[4rephill]

buggalugs said:

Cheers. It's not temporary, but I'll probably change both the rack and the pump in that case. I was hoping it would just be the rack as that had a bit of play in it anyway. So sod's law dictates that of course it would be the pump

Sounds like we share the same type of luck when it comes to cars!

[buggalugs]

It was the pump - piece of piss to change. Changed the 'box oil while I was under there. Car is happy now

[DaveR]

buggalugs said:

I was just apexing a roundabout yesterday when the power steering failed.

E46 PAS pumps obviously have a sense of humour.

Mine failed a few years ago.... as I was parking outside a chalet in Courchevel. Yep, that's right, 5,000 feet up a mountain at the top of a road of many bends and probably the furthest from home the car's ever been!

[buggalugs]

DaveR said:

buggalugs said:

I was just apexing a roundabout yesterday when the power steering failed.

E46 PAS pumps obviously have a sense of humour.

Mine failed a few years ago.... as I was parking outside a chalet in Courchevel. Yep, that's right, 5,000 feet up a mountain at the top of a road of many bends and probably the furthest from home the car's ever been!

Definitely a design weakness! Mine failed in the same way as lots of other peoples have i.e. the shaft snapped. Once the belt was off you could just pull the pulley forwards and the remains of the shaft would come out in your hand.