Morning sickness, wandering a bit, PAS woes.
 

I had an issue back in the spring where my steering was quite stiff first thing in the morning (especially turning clockwise / right) from centre which seemed to go away with the warmer weather.

Since the overnight temps have started dropping its back!
I have replaced the PAS fluid with the prescribed ATF, but didn’t manage to get it coming out red… no matter how much I siphoned out and replaced then pumped through it still comes out murky grey.

Of note, when turning the wheel it feels like there’s a point when I pass a notch and the wheel suddenly comes free, it’s hard to explain :confused_smile:

I’ve noticed that my steering is a lot more wandering and sloppy at the moment (once the stiffness has gone after a couple of turns, or the oil has warmed up).

Is a new / rebuilt rack in order?

Start by spraying the two universal joints in the steering column (under the bonnet) with the penetrating spray of your choice twice a day for a week and see if it gets better.

Cheers

I’ll give that a go…

This has worked for mine. First thing it’s really stiff turning right but eases up after a while. Keep spraying the joints, and maybe looks to something more thicker to keep the joint from getting dry.

I’ll give everything a go it means not replacing the rack 🤣

You could also try replacing the fluid, empty the reservoir with a large syringe (~200ml) and discharge it into an empty, clean Pot Noodle pot or similar - makes it easier to see the colour and contamination.

Refill with ATF and bleed by turning the wheel from lock to lock slowly with the engine idling. Top up if necessary after.

Repeat this weekly (assuming you're using the car) until the fluid stays clean. If it doesn't even begin to get clean, you'll have to find the cause.

I’ve pumped two litres of fresh ATF through the system and it still comes out grey. Any ideas what could be contaminating it? I’m thinking degrading seals perhaps… I’m not leaking any fluid. The rack is dry at all the exit points and the level is steady.

It could be the pump causing the contamination, if it is excessiely worn. It will also be noisy and you will likely be able to feel some play on the pulley. The rack could also be worn, also the strut top bearings could be shot causing the stiffness, the UJ in the column could also be excessively stiff, it sounds as if you may have more than one problem contributing to the woes.

When I swapped the fluid on my power steering first I jacked up the front of the car and supported it on axle stands with the front wheels free, then I removed the PAS return line and put that into a white washing up bowl from Poundland under the car (I extended it with a suitable piece of hose) - the bowl needs to be white to see the fluid colour.

Then I got a willing volunteer to start the car and spin the steering wheel lock to lock, whilst pouring new fluid into the PAS reservoir (it goes down fairly quickly, but not unmanageable with a funnel in the reservoir and bottles of fluid open and waiting) When the fluid running out into the washing up bowl was no longer dirty I got the volunteer to stop the car, reconnected the return line, topped the fluid up to the correct level, started the car and spun the wheel lock to lock a couple more times, checked the level again and put the kettle on.

Cheers

That's a bit of a harsh method! It gives the rack seals no time to recover between the old thin fluid going and the new, thick fluid (which will give higher pressures) coming in. That's why i'd always go for the syringe method and do part-changes, that way the new fluid has a chance to recondition the seals before full pressure from the new fluid happens. It's more gradual and also works out cheaper on fluid in the long run.