Massive loss of power steering fluid.

DAFTJOHN

How ya?

I've got a Vectra 2.2 sri estate, which has spat out all of it's power steering fluid. I was going at a good pace through a roundabout when the steering went heavy. Thought it might have been a belt, but there is Red fluid all over the bay.

Problem is I went hill walking yesterday and can hardly move my legs today lol, so I was wondering if the car will still be OK to use cause I can't get in to look around and below the car to see where it's coming from and is there an known weak point in the system that would cause the fluid loss? Maybe a pipe etc etc

cheers..

Mark_Dj

I have driven a car with the power steering broke. It only makes it heavy but it can still drive. You will probably have a split in the pipe making it leak. Check the bottle and the pipe at the bottom on the bottle as I have seen one leak from that location before.

vocky

vec B's usually leak from the steering rack pipe joint, sometimes it's just the 50p seal that needs replacing dunno..

DAFTJOHN

I've had a wee look at the bottom on the pump and there I one hose about 3/4'' diameter and another smaller one about 1/4'' diameter - does that sound right. I'll check to make sure they're seated properly

vocky

this is the order of likely failures,

have a look on the top of the rack, where the two pipes connect to the rack, there is a cheap 'O' ring seal which fails.

or it could be the pipes split at the pump

or it could be the rack seals have gone

or the pump seals have gone

DAFTJOHN

Cheers, I'll have a look when I finish work.

It looks like the fluid is coming from the bottom of the pump - but I'll have a good look later notsure.gif

DAFTJOHN

Right, I found the leak - it was a nut that had come loose at the bottom of the pump. I've tightened it up and added new fluid.

Is there any way to bleed the system as you can hear the fluid and air rushing about and there is a ticking coming from the pump itself.

vocky

to bleed power steering is very easy, just turn the wheels lock-to-lock a few times

the pump is noisy at the best of times :roll:

DAFTJOHN

Spot on, the ticking noise wasn't there before but I'll get the air out and see if it goes.

Cheers for your help cheers..

DAFTJOHN

Hmmmm, started her this morning and the steering was solid, went about 1.5 mile and it started to get looser, but only when driving - as soon as she was sitting still it went solid again.

I sat out side my work and went from lock to lock and it was solid but would loosen up for say 1/4 a turn at a time, then go solid again. If I moved the car forward even at very low speed the steering would go loose again???

How long should it take to get the air out? At the end of going lock to lock the pump was whining and there was a slight electrical burning smell???

Any ideas

Cheers

2_2SRi

Could be low on fluid still or the pumps knackered i`d say.

DAFTJOHN

Fluid is fine - now I'm getting nothing???

Can't imagine the pump has went due to fluid leaking out

vocky

could be the pump seals failed notsure.gif

2_2SRi

DAFTJOHN said:
Fluid is fine - now I'm getting nothing???

Can't imagine the pump has went due to fluid leaking out

It doesnt help the pump if you`ve been running it with no fluid etc. Just a thought.

DAFTJOHN

Ahhhh 🙁

Right I've taken the old pump off and fitted the new one - still nothing, so I looked at the old pump and the male part that fits to the engine looks like it's sheared because it's not a hex shape to fit the female part of the engine. So as it sits i've probably pushed the sheared part further into the female part of the engine. Any idea how to get that out?

Does that make sense, raging with myself for not making sure the spindle was the same before fitting it

vocky

you might be able do drill a hole and use a screw to pull it out, either way it's going to be a pain 🙁

DAFTJOHN

Well, she's in the garage now. The same thing happened to the new pump - the shaft sheared. The garage said they'll have to get into the cams ans they think the problem lies there. Might as well get the timing chaning done too then.

I can see the cost mounting up already cryb..

vocky

that sounds like 'hydraulic lock' making the shaft shear, ie too much pressure in the pipes, which would also cause the pipe to split 🙁

with the other symptom of heavy steering would indicate the rack is duff notsure.gif

quite a big job to change on a vecB 🙁

no need to touch the cams though dunno..

DAFTJOHN

Dunno, think it's easier to get the sheared part out of teh housing that way.

Think i was loosing fluid through the bolt, tightened the bolt added fluid and then bled the system - think this caused a build up of pressure due to me not keeping the cap off when bleeding it - shaft snapped and got stuck in housing - and due to me not knowing to keep the cap off when bleeding the system it happened all over again.

Maybe just a case of getting the sheared part off and getting a new pump fitted and bled properly - but if it's not that and it's the end of the cam that's squewed then it's a problem.

vocky

you don't need to leave the cap off when bleeding the steering, the air just ends up in the reservoir and you will have a low oil level notsure.gif