Steering problem

[Raul]

2003 berlingo 2.0hdi. It started slow like sometimes it felt for a moment like the steering was not as light as it used to be. But eventually it got to a point that steering is very heavy and jerky and feels like there is something stopping the movement of the steering rack. Anyone had that kind of problem and how did it eventually end up? A new steering rack or something else?

[wheeler]

Does it get better if you hold the revs on the engine (about 2,500 rpm) then turn the steering?
If.
Have you actually checked nothing is physically interfering with the movement of the rack? You did say it felt like that. I recently investigated a car for difficult gear selection in certain gears & found a piece of a tree branch lodged on top of the gearbox that was restricting the movement of the selector levers on the gearbox.

[xantia_v6]

Is there a universal joint in the steering column that could have seized?

[white exec]

Air in LHM steering systems causes them to go knobbly/notchy, then heavy.
Applies to other systems too?

[Raul]

Does it get better if you hold the revs on the engine (about 2,500 rpm) then turn the steering?

No it does not. I checked the oil and it looked quite brownish. I filled the reservoir allmost full with a new oil and it seems that it got a little bit better. I am going to try to change the oil and see if it would make things better.

[Peter.N.]

I believe there is a universal joint at the bottom of the column, this can cause stiff steering, give it a good squirt of lubricant - several in fact.

Peter