Power steering

[Socr8s]

Just bought a 1996 chimaera 4L with power steering. Was making a whining sound when turning wheel. Looked into PAS reservoir which was abit low and so decided to top this up thinking possibly small leak somewhere in system. After driving for about 30 minutes and then reversing into garage lost all power steering associated with large leak I think somewhere from the tubing around the power steering motor. Does this sound like a simple case of fixing the pipework or am I likely to have damaged the pump? Also does anyone know if continuing to drive without fluid in the system is likely to damage the pump? Am taking it to garage on Monday. Any ideas what this is likely to cost?

[harrow_chim]

I would have thought that you would be able to see where it is leaking if you have lost that much fluid!
I would not drive the car with no fluid in as I would expect the fluid to be acting as a lubricant for the pump - but I might be wrong.
Nick

[M@H]

Don't drive it without fluid

[Socr8s]

Turns out leak was coming from hole in the rack itself. New rack time I think

[redleicester]

I'd get it reconditioned if I were you, new racks are horribly expensive!

[chrisA]

My power steering makes a sort of sloshing/hissing noise when I turn the wheel. It's not a loud noise but you are aware of it, is this normal on a 97 400 Chim?

Also the steering seems very sensitive to road contours (i.e. if you put the wheels in a shallow trough on the motor way it tends to want to change lanes) is this normal with a chim?

As you can tell I am a new owner!

[nsparey]

redleicester said:

I'd get it reconditioned if I were you, new racks are horribly expensive!

What do they cost and where from?

[tyre_tread]

chrisA said:

My power steering makes a sort of sloshing/hissing noise when I turn the wheel. It's not a loud noise but you are aware of it, is this normal on a 97 400 Chim?

Also the steering seems very sensitive to road contours (i.e. if you put the wheels in a shallow trough on the motor way it tends to want to change lanes) is this normal with a chim?

As you can tell I am a new owner!

Hi Chris and welcome

I think its a case of TADTS (they all do that Sir!). Mine certainly does and so do the others I've driven.

I'm talking about both the power steering noise and the tramlining.

[bga]

chrisA said:

My power steering makes a sort of sloshing/hissing noise when I turn the wheel. It's not a loud noise but you are aware of it, is this normal on a 97 400 Chim?

Mine does it very slightly on my '98, the sound is more pronounced when the fluid is low

[chrisA]

Thanks guys, comforting to know. I'll try topping the fluid up.

[The Surveyor]

chrisA said:

My power steering makes a sort of sloshing/hissing noise when I turn the wheel. It's not a loud noise but you are aware of it, is this normal on a 97 400 Chim?

Also the steering seems very sensitive to road contours (i.e. if you put the wheels in a shallow trough on the motor way it tends to want to change lanes) is this normal with a chim?

As you can tell I am a new owner!

As said above, keep the fluid levels up in the power steering system and it'll keep quiet, but even so, mine makes a quite sloshing noise.

On the tramlining, mine used to do this when i first got mine, but after having a full 4 wheel allingment done by HHC, there was a huge improvement. Also check that the tyre presures arn't too high. People are tempted to put 30+ psi in them like normal cars, but as these things are so light, they should only have 24 - 26 psi in them. Check the handbook for the actual front / rear figures

[perma-grin]

Been through a bout of power steering related issues over the past few months - part of which required a new pump.
one thing to keep a close eye on are the pipes from the pump, which are prone to fine vertical splits(look like razor slashes), that can widen up when the steering is on/close to lock. If you find the fluid needs topping up a little to regularly they are well worth checking.
As for worrying about the pump.... if it makes a very annoying high pitched whine that increases uniformly with the rev's with no steering input - and that you can hear over a sports exhaust - then its f@@ked! - rare for them to go, but little noises here and there esp under load are normal.