Citroen C4 power steering woes
Discussion
Hi, I’m wondering if anyone can be of any assistance with the wife’s C4 power steering issue before I have to book it in to a garage.
A little background info, the car is a 2006 Citroen C4VTR+ with a 2 litre petrol engine. It would intermittently lose power steering assistance, you could usually rest it by turning the car off and leaving it a few minutes. Gradually it got to be a more regular occurrence. So I did a little digging and apparently the electric pumps can be problematic, recon pump ordered and fitted and all appeared well. Approx 1 week later all power steering assistance has been lost and will not come back on regardless of car has been turned off etc. I’m leaning towards a failed pump but not keen on spending another £250 on basically a guess.
So far I have rechecked all pipes, plugs etc to pump ok. Battery voltage ok to main power plug, Earth to pump seems ok. Fuse under dash and mega fuses in engine bay appear ok. Alternator charging fine and no lights on dash. Anyone have any experience with these before I set fire to the bloody thing!
A little background info, the car is a 2006 Citroen C4VTR+ with a 2 litre petrol engine. It would intermittently lose power steering assistance, you could usually rest it by turning the car off and leaving it a few minutes. Gradually it got to be a more regular occurrence. So I did a little digging and apparently the electric pumps can be problematic, recon pump ordered and fitted and all appeared well. Approx 1 week later all power steering assistance has been lost and will not come back on regardless of car has been turned off etc. I’m leaning towards a failed pump but not keen on spending another £250 on basically a guess.
So far I have rechecked all pipes, plugs etc to pump ok. Battery voltage ok to main power plug, Earth to pump seems ok. Fuse under dash and mega fuses in engine bay appear ok. Alternator charging fine and no lights on dash. Anyone have any experience with these before I set fire to the bloody thing!
AF1 said:
Hi, I’m wondering if anyone can be of any assistance with the wife’s C4 power steering issue before I have to book it in to a garage.
A little background info, the car is a 2006 Citroen C4VTR+ with a 2 litre petrol engine. It would intermittently lose power steering assistance, you could usually rest it by turning the car off and leaving it a few minutes. Gradually it got to be a more regular occurrence. So I did a little digging and apparently the electric pumps can be problematic, recon pump ordered and fitted and all appeared well. Approx 1 week later all power steering assistance has been lost and will not come back on regardless of car has been turned off etc. I’m leaning towards a failed pump but not keen on spending another £250 on basically a guess.
So far I have rechecked all pipes, plugs etc to pump ok. Battery voltage ok to main power plug, Earth to pump seems ok. Fuse under dash and mega fuses in engine bay appear ok. Alternator charging fine and no lights on dash. Anyone have any experience with these before I set fire to the bloody thing!
I had this on my Peugeot 3008. The write up is here: https://www.mywifehatesthiscar.com/peugeot-steerin...A little background info, the car is a 2006 Citroen C4VTR+ with a 2 litre petrol engine. It would intermittently lose power steering assistance, you could usually rest it by turning the car off and leaving it a few minutes. Gradually it got to be a more regular occurrence. So I did a little digging and apparently the electric pumps can be problematic, recon pump ordered and fitted and all appeared well. Approx 1 week later all power steering assistance has been lost and will not come back on regardless of car has been turned off etc. I’m leaning towards a failed pump but not keen on spending another £250 on basically a guess.
So far I have rechecked all pipes, plugs etc to pump ok. Battery voltage ok to main power plug, Earth to pump seems ok. Fuse under dash and mega fuses in engine bay appear ok. Alternator charging fine and no lights on dash. Anyone have any experience with these before I set fire to the bloody thing!
Basically, as daft as it sounds, you need to make sure the tyre pressures across the front two wheels are at the proper pressure and the same pressure. If one is out then when you're turning the ECU on the pump can't cope, so it throws this error. I had this happen at 50mph, it wasn't fun. The one tyre was slightly lower than the other, so I pumped it up and checked them weekly. The issue never came back.
I wouldn't touch another PSA car with this type of steering pump. It's dangerous when it goes wrong. Plus its not the pump itself but the ECU that's part of it. I was quoted £300 for a refurbished ECU. It's nearly £900 for a new pump!
sgtBerbatov said:
I had this on my Peugeot 3008. The write up is here: https://www.mywifehatesthiscar.com/peugeot-steerin...
Basically, as daft as it sounds, you need to make sure the tyre pressures across the front two wheels are at the proper pressure and the same pressure. If one is out then when you're turning the ECU on the pump can't cope, so it throws this error. I had this happen at 50mph, it wasn't fun. The one tyre was slightly lower than the other, so I pumped it up and checked them weekly. The issue never came back.
I wouldn't touch another PSA car with this type of steering pump. It's dangerous when it goes wrong. Plus its not the pump itself but the ECU that's part of it. I was quoted £300 for a refurbished ECU. It's nearly £900 for a new pump!
I hadn’t thought of that but I will certainly check the pressures and adjust as required. Thank you. Read in your article about the cost of the LDS fluid, agree totally ridiculous. Worse I can get normal ATF free of charge but no Citroen insist on the expensive orange gear!Basically, as daft as it sounds, you need to make sure the tyre pressures across the front two wheels are at the proper pressure and the same pressure. If one is out then when you're turning the ECU on the pump can't cope, so it throws this error. I had this happen at 50mph, it wasn't fun. The one tyre was slightly lower than the other, so I pumped it up and checked them weekly. The issue never came back.
I wouldn't touch another PSA car with this type of steering pump. It's dangerous when it goes wrong. Plus its not the pump itself but the ECU that's part of it. I was quoted £300 for a refurbished ECU. It's nearly £900 for a new pump!
AF1 said:
sgtBerbatov said:
I had this on my Peugeot 3008. The write up is here: https://www.mywifehatesthiscar.com/peugeot-steerin...
Basically, as daft as it sounds, you need to make sure the tyre pressures across the front two wheels are at the proper pressure and the same pressure. If one is out then when you're turning the ECU on the pump can't cope, so it throws this error. I had this happen at 50mph, it wasn't fun. The one tyre was slightly lower than the other, so I pumped it up and checked them weekly. The issue never came back.
I wouldn't touch another PSA car with this type of steering pump. It's dangerous when it goes wrong. Plus its not the pump itself but the ECU that's part of it. I was quoted £300 for a refurbished ECU. It's nearly £900 for a new pump!
I hadn’t thought of that but I will certainly check the pressures and adjust as required. Thank you. Read in your article about the cost of the LDS fluid, agree totally ridiculous. Worse I can get normal ATF free of charge but no Citroen insist on the expensive orange gear!Basically, as daft as it sounds, you need to make sure the tyre pressures across the front two wheels are at the proper pressure and the same pressure. If one is out then when you're turning the ECU on the pump can't cope, so it throws this error. I had this happen at 50mph, it wasn't fun. The one tyre was slightly lower than the other, so I pumped it up and checked them weekly. The issue never came back.
I wouldn't touch another PSA car with this type of steering pump. It's dangerous when it goes wrong. Plus its not the pump itself but the ECU that's part of it. I was quoted £300 for a refurbished ECU. It's nearly £900 for a new pump!
But you'd be as well to move the car on as soon as you can really. My steering went at 50mph and I'm a big guy so could man handle the car to the side of the road. The wife drove that car and there'd be no way she would'be been able to.
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