Steering.

[Chris_H4922]

Its been a while. Maybe due to me ignoring the tedious little bits....

So, i got back to the uk after 6 long weeks in asia. Car started fine after a quick once over to make sure levels were tickety boo. I have lumpy brakes fron where they were stuck on. That is slowly going away. After roughly 50 miles of driving the steering became really lumpy (light then heavy intermittently) and hasnt returned to normal. I cant put my finger on where and what is causing it. It seems to be okay in reverse. They only clue i have is the lower steering uj joint. I have also seen a few people with steering problems that resulted in recon racks etc. Looking for someone to potentially point me in the right direction.

Many thanks

[GiveMeABreak]

First of all did you check for any leaks on the ground under the car? If it is the rack you will begin to loose fluid. It is possible that it has just sat for a while and needs a good workout. Start the car and lower the suspension all the way down. Leave engine running for a while then check the LDS levels they should be between the lower 2 marks that you can see. Top up if necessary. Turn the steering wheel full lock left and right a few times, heck the fluid levels again. Rise the car up and down several times then back to normal.

Take her for a spin and see how she goes.

[Chris_H4922]

Thanks for the reply. No signs of leaking. I dont have hydractive suspension so that rules out potential problems there. The Power steering fluid level has not changed. There is a quite squeek you can hear on the inside when turning the wheel. Like i say, it was fine when i started driving it again and then became lumpy after driving for a while.

[white exec]

Air in the fluid? Dip a sample from the reservoir to check, after the car has been driven for a short while.

[Stickyfinger]

Thanks for the reply. No signs of leaking. I dont have hydractive suspension so that rules out potential problems there. The Power steering fluid level has not changed. There is a quite squeek you can hear on the inside when turning the wheel. Like i say, it was fine when i started driving it again and then became lumpy after driving for a while.

Squeak on turning ?.....check the lower swivel joint and the arm bushes.

Check the lower joint with the wheels on the ground using a lever, there should be zero movement if it is OK..part 14 in the image

[Chris_H4922]

Air in the fluid? Dip a sample from the reservoir to check, after the car has been driven for a short while.

Sorry, sunday morning. What do you mean by dip a sample?

[Chris_H4922]

Thanks for the reply. No signs of leaking. I dont have hydractive suspension so that rules out potential problems there. The Power steering fluid level has not changed. There is a quite squeek you can hear on the inside when turning the wheel. Like i say, it was fine when i started driving it again and then became lumpy after driving for a while.

Squeak on turning ?.....check the lower swivel joint and the arm bushes.

Check the lower joint with the wheels on the ground using a lever, there should be zero movement if it is OK..part 14 in the image

The noise isnt from the outside. It is coming from the lower steerug joint i think. I'll have a look anyway.

[GiveMeABreak]

As the car has been sat for these 6 weeks as you say and the your brake discs were rusting up - it's not unlikely that your steering rack pinion may also have some rust on in. This is one of the causes of why the older racks fail - water ingress and rust, resulting in the seals being destroyed and then the leak. If you can, I would get it checked out and if necessary, cleaned up and greased ASAP before it becomes a problem. Citroen will only sell a complete rack and it is not cheap. Reconditioned units have had limited success as the internal seals are also affected, but the new OEM rack has been redesigned to help prevent this. It may well not be your rack - but if the noise is coming from the floor area - that of course is where the pinion is. Fingers crossed.