berlingo steering

[rainydays]

Had a good look today, bushes, wishbones and springs look in good order. Steering turns freely both directions with the front wheels raised. The only thing that i did notice was this but i am not sure what it does:
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy57 ... e86933.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It looks like a plastic sock protecting something but is a bit scuffed up
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy57 ... fac563.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy57 ... 8b928d.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rainydays]

I have had a look on the internet and it appears to be part of the steering rack. It is an orange coloured plastic sleeve and seems to protect the rod that you can see in the previous pictures.
After twisting the wheels left and right by hand yesterday the steering feels nice and loose/normal today. I think that this is the possible problem area.

[oneday]

sounds like you might of dislodged whatever was the blockage

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Unfortuantely this sounds very familiar to me and around the 53 plate era Citroen produced some very suspect front coil springs apparently they did install some faulty springs, but kept very quiet about it.
sometimes it is quite difficult to see a break in the berlingo springs becasuse of how dark it is in the wheelarch a clean break near the top of the spring or a crack may be covered up by mud.

take a torch and shine it up under the front wings and check the springs for breakeages I suspect that one of your front springs is broken or perhaps both of them, they usually need to be replaced in pairs. they don't always collapse enough to prevent the Berlingo from being driven or to alter the drive height significantly.

I had one replaced on a Belingo I owened for a few months but I got rid when I realised it was a bit to underpowered for me without a turbo. the pulling to one side still continued after the spring was replaced it probably needed the other one changing to. I have since seen and heard of quite a few berlingos that suffered with the same problem.

we have just replaced the front springs on my sons 2003 plate Citroen Van, both front springs went home on this.
GSF were the most reasonably priced but we diecided to repalce the shocks at the same time and got Martin at pleiades to compress the springs and put the shocks together which was very reasonable the total cost of parts and labour if you do the job yourself for two springs is around £230.00

It could well be this. a torch will help you see the break must better than the naked eye if there is one there. probably near to the top of the spring.
steering will always bee much easier when you jack up the front of the vechicle even with a cracked/broken spring.

the pics you have put up I think are of the ends of the pwr steering rack which has a protective cover on the ends to prevent corrossion.
The only other thing I can think of is uneven tyre wear, but this could equally be caused by a broken spring that has gone unoticed for a very long time.

regards Nigel.

[rainydays]

I will check that out tomorrow, thank`s nigel, as the steering has stiffened up again

[rainydays]

I had a quick look tonight but i could not see ant signs of a break, there was however approximately half an inch difference on the nearside compared to the offside in the height from the top of the tyre to the bottom of the wheel arch

[rainydays]

I have had a good luck today and there is definately no broken coil spring and i replaced the power steering pump on Sunday. Steering felt ok yesterday but it has gone stiff again today. I am now thinking that it may be a steering rack issue.

[Xantidote]

There are no miniscule in-line filters in the pipe banjo's are there?

Long time ago, I found a couple of tiny mesh filters on a BX I had, at the flow diverter valve, whilst trying to track down an intermittent heavy steering problem, just like you're experiencing. Obviously a totally different system to yours, but I found the filter mesh of both filters had dissappeared. After replacing the rack's hydraulic ram/cylinder, to no avail, I replaced the flow diverter valve, and problem solved. Never found where the mesh from the filters went!

[rainydays]

Hi xantidote, i have not discovered any filters

[addo]

Well, it could be the pinion valve. It's the "coming and going" bit which is atypical there.

[rainydays]

Please excuse my lack of understanding but what does the pinion valve do and i presume it is attached to the steering rack. Is it the bit that the power steering pipes are attached to

[addo]

Yes, the pinion valve is the cast iron bit which the steering shaft passes into, bolted to the main "body" of the rack.

Into it goes high pressure fluid from the pump, out of it are two high pressure steel lines to the ram, and one low pressure return (goes to rubber off a metal stub, then back to reservoir).

As the steering wheel is turned, the internal valving favours one of the high pressure output lines over the other; this creates an imbalance inside the steering ram that makes it want to change position (ie, to push the road wheels one way or the other). This is your power assistance. Once you start to turn the wheel back, it redirects the flow and assists you in returning to centre.

If the teflon seals inside are damaged, it can affect how readily pressure is controlled/directed to the ram.

[rainydays]

Ok, useful info. Are they easy to replace?

[addo]

Not too bad in my experience, about 2.5 Haynes spanners.

You need 12-14mm flare nut spanners and often a 17mm crows foot. Pack the pinion hole generously with fresh extreme pressure waterproof grease. Offside wheel removed for access through the side.

[rainydays]

Thanks addo, i will have a look