Power steering pump

[alanlondon]

Good evening all,

2003 C5 1.8 petrol VTR

I find myself with no power steering!

Short trip out, about 1 mile. On the way back the steering went incredibly heavy accompanied by a loud "graunching" noise from the pump. Drove her back and left her to recover.

Checked the level this afternoon and found the reservoir low. Fortunately had some LDS and filled to correct level. Checking around I found a leak at the return pipe on the front "strut". The clip holding it at the top had worked loose. It has been leaking for some time by the looks of it.

With the fluid restored, carried out the bleeding using a self bleeding kit and tyre pressure. Absolutely no difference! The pump is noisy as soon as the engine is started and becomes much louder as the steering wheel is turned, even by a little, say 10 degrees.

Before going further I thought I would check with experts. The car has a belt driven pump. I have an idea what the issue is, but would like independent thinking before starting work. I know many of you know these cars much better than I!

[GiveMeABreak]

Make sure you follow the bleeding procedure:

Apply a pressure of 0,5 bar in the LDS fluid reservoir (using a suitable tool) if necessary.
Start the engine.
Wait for the vehicle height to stabilise.
Put the vehicle in the "high" position.
Lower the vehicle to the low position.
Turn the steering from lock to lock in each direction (do not hold the steering wheel on the lock positions)
Stop the engine.
Check the LDS fluid level.

Repeat if necessary.

[alanlondon]

Thanks for the reply Marc,

The bleeding described was exactly what I have done following instructions read in this forum. Impossible to turn steering lock to lock and, whilst trying, sounds as if the pas pump is about to chew itself to pieces. Could this just be a bleeding issue?

In all my years working on cars, I have never had to change a pas pump. Just lucky?

[wheeler]

If the pump has been running dry with no LDS in it may well now be damaged.
Might be worth taking the belt off & spinning the pulley by hand to see if there is any roughness or play in the bearing.

[alanlondon]

Hi Wheeler,
Yes. A job for Monday!

[alanlondon]

Hi Wheeler,
Yes. A job for Monday!

Just to round off the thread.

Well you know what it's like...

...Monday becomes Tuesday and Tuesday becomes.. You get the drift.

Ordered a PAS pump before doing the job as there was little chance of it being something else. (Had a great price and service from a company called spareshq on ebay).

Took off the belt, no sideways movement on the pulley, but a very audible noise from the bearing. Took off ancillaries belt, pas pump and fitted new. If you are doing the job, the two bolts nearest the belt are allen bolts, 6mm. Typical French, three bolts, make one different!

To pressurise the fluid into the pump, took a latex glove, held it over the filler and blew down the thumb from which I had cut off the top! Seemed easier to do than rigging up a self bleeder as it only requires a few psi.

On start up, fluid obviously there, but turned lock to lock a few times and hey presto, job's a good 'un!

An easy job even for a DIYer.

[CitroJim]

Excellent!