Xantia Steering 'Feel'

rossnunn · Post by **rossnunn** » 04 Jul 2005, 21:20

When steering in the Xantia you can 'feel' the teeth on the steering rack , very slightly.
Would it be time to change the LHM??
Cheers
Ro [:o)]

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 04 Jul 2005, 22:46

The gear in the steering rack is a worm gear, i.e. it's not straight cut gears so you should never be able to feel teeth. What you could be feeling is something being sticky and juddery, there are plenty of culprits.
You can check the condition of your LHM by colour, it should be green with no yellowness to it, it turns a yellowy brown colour as it gets dirty. You can also tell the condition of any oil by feel, it should feel oily, if it starts feeling gritty its long past the time to change it, and you should be able to tell be colour long before then.

adzbaby · Post by **adzbaby** » 04 Jul 2005, 22:56

I just changed the LHM in my car over the w/e, it hadn't been done for well over 50k, it was a brown murky colour! It's amazing how much lighter the steering is, how much better the ride is and how much more sharp the brakes are! The poor thing had been severely neglected! [;)]

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 05 Jul 2005, 02:52

Do you mean a slight lumpiness or pulsing as you move the wheel very quickly? If so you are actually feeling the pump pulses and its something you will probbaly have to live with. Changeing the LHM may help but from experience it will feel marvellous for a week then go back to what it was as the LHM molecules get mashed up and the stuff settles down to its long term viscosity.
If you can feel something rough undernormal slow movement of the wheel you may have something much more serious which should be investigated.
jeremy

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 05 Jul 2005, 03:28

This sensation can also be caused by a flat accumulator sphere.
I recently did a BX over for a friend and after dumping all the LHM, I flushed it through with new stuff via all the brake bleeders, regassed the accumulator sphere amongst other jobs and ended up with a very smooth steering that was notchy when I started. I also cleaned the filters in the LHM tank as the 'specialist' who was doing the work in the past had just been blowing out the outer filter but hadn't touched the cone shaped one and it was full of crap and there was an accumulation of garbage on the bottom of the tank. I also replaced the two hose clamps at the tank to prevent air sucking into the system.
Alan S

Post by **Peter.N.** » 05 Jul 2005, 04:01

If its not the sphere it could be that not all the pistons in the pump are pumping, if that is the problem it will be worse at low speed. Should be plenty of good pumps at the scrappies.

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 05 Jul 2005, 04:33

Alan - doesn't the feed for the steering on the early Xantia and the BX come off from the flow divider Valve and before the accumulator - which consequently for better or worse has no influence? The later Xantia has the 6 + 2 pump with the 6 pistons feeding the steering exclusively, and the 2 feeding the suspension and brakes?
jeremy

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 05 Jul 2005, 14:53

I didn't think the accumulator sphere was connected to the steering circuit on a later Xantia, so perhaps one of the other jobs your did fixed the steering, it sounds like you did quite a few.

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 05 Jul 2005, 15:51

I can only speak about the BX and I have definitely felt this "tight & notchy" feel when the accumulator is either dead or pretty well down.
Let's face it, as soon as there's any draw on the hydraulic power, the brakes take precedence and the steering is the first to be sacrificed for assistance. This could come from not having the back up from the sphere or could also apply if the filters were dirty either in the F/D or in the tank, or both.
It may also be from inside the pinion valve if the fluid is leaking between the sectors.
Alan S