Power Steering Problem

[G60 CS 0]

Hi

I have a '92 G60 and have started to have power steering problems. At low revs it feels like I have no power steering but better the faster I go ! Its also a bit clunky at low revs sometimes, there's no squealing like its a loose belt and the fluid levels ok, any ideas ? Pump ?

 

Cheer Simon

[Supercharged 2]

Things to check

 

- fluid level and colour (should be transparent green) - if it's black then needs changing (£5 from VW for Fluid)

- Belt condition and tension - again cheap to change

- Belt splash shield fitted

- Tyre pressures and condition of Track rod ends

[davidwort 0]

manual steering will always feel lighter the faster you move so you may be getting little or no power assistance at all.

has the fluid level dropped at all?, any visible leaks from the pump hoses or rack?

the pumps are pretty simple, they usually either leak fluid as the bearing wears or the pressure relief valve sticks inside them and you get permanent pressure even when not turning, lots of groaning and very soon leaks from the pressure hose to the rack.

It sounds more like a rack problem, you can pull back the rack gators to see if fluid has leaked out into them, not sure how you can check the pump is actually pumping fluid as the G60 has the later style reservoir that the fluid doesn't flow through.

[G60 CS 0]

From speaking to Power Steering Specialists (S.London) its the pressure plates either side of the rotors inside the pump, Good old VW discontinued it 01/09/2008 !! No stock anywhere apparently although Heritage have them on back order from their classic parts dept. Searching thro the forum I came across a post where another member had found and used the above company. I called them up, they were really helpful and said if they didn't have a replacement new pump they can rebuild mine. Not sure of cost yet but bound to be less than :

 

VW £288.39 + vat but obsolete

 

Heritage £197.96 + vat but on back order

Edited January 3, 2012 by G60 CS

[davidwort 0]

the basic pump itself is pretty common across vw models (an even other car makers) plenty of places do recon ones, I've had a recon one on for ten years or more with no trouble on an early 16v, the main difference is two different spacings from pump body to pulley and different angles of feed pipe connector, I'm not familiar with the G60 one specifically but it must be basically the same as the basic vw 1.8 or 2L 8v engine 16v engine you might find one with a slightly differnt angle of feed pipe works fine, the supply pipe is also a push fit into the pump body so you may be able to swap that over from your old pump.

looking at the part descriptions the 1.8 16v has the same pulley-pump offset (the longer 51mm rather than the later 2.0L 16v 41mm) and it looks like it's just the angled supply pipe that is G60 specific, they fit those angled supply pipes slightly differently on other cars, I have a polo and 2L 8v pump which both have angled supply pipes, just slightly different positions and as they don't have to be pressurised they just need to be fitted leak proof at the right angle, the polo one I have actually came loose and fell out I just keep it as a spare as the hub offset is right for what I need.

In the past GSF didn't list the pump I needed so I just compared my old one with the recon types they had in stock over the counter and matched one up.