Power steering groan

stevejg · May 22, 2013

Hi all, I have a 2002 4.6 HSE with 67,000 miles (US). I have an awful grinding noise that I can feel through the steering wheel. The fluid is topped up to the correct position. It occurs when:

-Only when the engine is warm
-Only when making a right hand turn
-Only at a low speed or while stopped. If it starts to happen, and I dial the wheel back left and then right again, it usually stops . However if I continue the turn it will squeal the whole way through. Any ideas?

BelvoirDisco · May 23, 2013

I've had similar problems in the past which were cured by flushing out the system with clean fluid. The steering box is quite a complex arrangement with a number of seals in the the valve arrangement and a torsion bar which regulates the amount of pressure applied. Any muck in there, made up of wear materials and dirt, and trouble comes quickly. It's had ten years to get that way. Anyhow replacing the fluid throughout is your cheapest first option. Usually needs 2 people and I'd recommend jacking the front axle up so there is no load through the tyres. Then fit some tubing from the bleed nipple on the steering box to a bottle with some PAS fluid in, as an air lock, and then open the bleed nipple and feed new fluid in the reservoir while working the steering to the left and right to flush through both chambers. You probably need a couple of litres to get it flushed and have enough in to set the level correctly. I have seen the procedure for this in the Disco 2 manual. Could be worth trawling the docs/threads on P38s for more info.

Good luck...

stevejg · May 24, 2013

BelvoirDisco said:
I've had similar problems in the past which were cured by flushing out the system with clean fluid. The steering box is quite a complex arrangement with a number of seals in the the valve arrangement and a torsion bar which regulates the amount of pressure applied. Any muck in there, made up of wear materials and dirt, and trouble comes quickly. It's had ten years to get that way. Anyhow replacing the fluid throughout is your cheapest first option. Usually needs 2 people and I'd recommend jacking the front axle up so there is no load through the tyres. Then fit some tubing from the bleed nipple on the steering box to a bottle with some PAS fluid in, as an air lock, and then open the bleed nipple and feed new fluid in the reservoir while working the steering to the left and right to flush through both chambers. You probably need a couple of litres to get it flushed and have enough in to set the level correctly. I have seen the procedure for this in the Disco 2 manual. Could be worth trawling the docs/threads on P38s for more info.

Good luck...

Good idea, I didn't realize it was a relatively simple process. I will try that first!

odysseus · May 24, 2013

I had a similar issue in a Mercedes. Turned out to be a steering damper.

stevejg · May 24, 2013

odysseus said:
I had a similar issue in a Mercedes. Turned out to be a steering damper.

Steering damper is new, and this problem unfortunately occurred both before and after. Though it has gotten much worse over the last couple days, probably something to do with me towing a good bit of weight in a trailer.

Grrrrrr · May 24, 2013

Can you get someone to wiggle the steering while you get under the front for a look? Check all linkages and ball-joints for excess movement in case one of them is on the way out.

Power steering groan

stevejg

New Member

BelvoirDisco

New Member

stevejg

New Member

odysseus

Active Member

stevejg

New Member

Grrrrrr

Technician, Bodgit & Scarper Ltd

Similar threads