Steering again

[spslward]

Posted a little while ago about steering feeling a bit stiff and the car feeling as though it was wandering at speed.
Had a new steering UJ put in and this has made a fantastic difference to the car. Steering is light and very responsive almost all of the time.

The trouble is, on a long drive when the car really gets up to temperature the steering suddenly goes horribly stiff again with me constantly having to adjust the wheel to keep the beggar on the tarmac. When it cools down...hey presto...great steering feel again.

Is there anything that could be expanding and contracting to cause this?

[satman]

Ive not looked and may be miles off the mark, but could it be a power steering hose getting hot, maybe running near the exhaust for example, which then gets warmed up, swells the hose but causes a restriction to the flow of the power steering oil?...it could be something much simpler than this...so i wait to get flamed!...

[shpub]

You can get problems with the UJ fitting where the two ends of the column are close together so that as the column is turned the two ends can get closer too each other. Heat expansion can then cause them to rub. The solution is to move the columns apart by slackening off the UJ clamps and moving the connecting rod.

[shell]

My steering is very stiff when cold, i.e. just after start up, there is also a couple of degrees play as the steering wheel end in both directions. Is this normal or is my power steering about to get expensive?

thanks for any help!!

[kojak69]

Not sure what i'm talking about (as usual), but could it be a sheared woodruff key on the PAS shaft?

[shell]

If I didnt know what I was talking about I'd say nothing, just a thought, you would say, ask an expert then!!

[kojak69]

On earlier cars (pre 99), the woodruff key on the shaft was smaller, and was prone to shearing. Sometimes they can be replaced, but if not, a new shaft is needed, with the larger key...£1000.

>> Edited by kojak69 on Monday 26th April 17:48

[andy4200]

shell said:

If I didnt know what I was talking about I'd say nothing, just a thought, you would say, ask an expert then!!

Relax

Kojak is just pointing out one of the many potential problems with the PAS. If you search the forum you'll see that this topic comes up fairly regularly. There's a few possibilities, some expensive and some not so.
I won't offer a suggestion because I'm not a mechanic and it hasn't happened to me...... yet!!!

Andy

[andy4200]

kojak69 said:

On earlier cars (pre 99), the woodruff key on the shaft was smaller, and was prone to shearing. Sometimes they can be replaced, but if not, a new shaft is needed, with the larger key...£1000. >> Edited by kojak69 on Monday 26th April 17:48

Or... I believe Joolz can change it to electric PAS as on the S6 for a smaller sum. (or maybe that was another PAS thing he was telling me about).

I'll shut up now

[kojak69]

Cheers Andy.

No i'm not a mechanic. Most on here aren't either. When you've been on PH a bit, you do pick up common/not so common faults. Theres a host of info on past threads as you quite rightly say.

I'll keep Shell's comments in mind...if I need advice on toys.

[andy4200]

kojak69 said:

Cheers Andy. No i'm not a mechanic. Most on here aren't either. When you've been on PH a bit, you do pick up common/not so common faults. Theres a host of info on past threads as you quite rightly say.

Too true, unfortunately I've got a memory like a sieve and can't remember the half of what might be causes to problems. I do like to tinker with the car though and I'm sure I'll get out my depth someday soon.

Andy

[matt101]

my car suffered with the old style shaft shearing, TWICE!!!!. Its with APM at the moment having the electric steering fitted as per tamora. Far cheaper than retrofitting the later shaft as this is engine out....