Noisy power steering pump and fluid in pressure sensor - go manual?

[daddycool]

hi, my pas pump is making the same noise all the time (except neutral position) that you usually only get on full lock. i've also got a leak somewhere but the reservoir isn't going down. i've also got fluid inside the pressure sensor.

so rather than replace the pump and the sensor, should i bin the whole lot and get a manual rack?

 

[JoedotwasT5phy]

Mine was doing the same a few years ago, i changed the sensor, bled the system and its been fine since. sensor was only anut £40 iirc

 

[daddycool]

i think they're more like £60 now. plenty easier then changing a sensor though, although i've just been reading another thread where somewhere changed the sensor but still had a whiny pump. the sensor's been leaking for a while now so i wouldn't be surprised if the pump is knackered.

assuming i go manual rack, most of the 1.2 16v and dci racks on ebay are listed as power steering or manual but electronic assist, i can't see any that are just manual. or would i just go for an electronic assist one?

 

[f0xy]

The electric racks are just manual racks, the actual assist part is a huge motor attached to the column behind the dash. MarkCup on here runs a DCi rack on his 172 without any issues IIRC

 

[daddycool]

cheers, so i think i'm looking at the right ones then. i've sent a pm to markcup.

any knowledge on how you would route the aux belt? crank pulley straight to alternator, or use a dummy pulley? i've asked mark this question in the pm

 

[MarkCup]

Hi Kris

I'm afraid I'm pretty clueless as to what I've had fitted...I tend not to get my hands dirty and let Mike at Rentech sort it all out for me when my original rack went.

What I can say is that it is an electrically assisted dCi rack fitted, but without the electrical assistance. Which rack and from which model it came I've no idea. Also, I've no idea what if anything was required with regards to auxiliary belt etc.

You could always give Mike/Dave at Rentech a call.

In my opinion it's definitely worth it though. So long as you're not running a stupidly small wheel the weight is manageable, plus you'll release somewhere in the region of 7bhp.

Sorry I couldn't be any more help!

Mark

 

[daddycool]

cheers, i've sent some PMs to mike and he's come back with some good info. i've also found this, a rebuilt 2 year warranty Manual Rack Renault Clio 1.5 D dCi 80 (04/02 - 12/05) for £40
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Manual-Rack-R...CarParts_SM&hash=item3a5c0a362c#ht_2373wt_905

does it look like what i need?

 

[Fred@BTM]

DCi and 1.2 16v are the same rack

 

[f0xy]

Thought it looked similar...

OP I've got a 1.2 Mk2 rack here you can have for cheap if you want it.

 

[daddycool]

Cheers but I'm gonna go with the rebuilt one, thanks anyway

sent from my android phone using tapatalk

 

[daddycool]

what happens when you start thinking about things...

one of the reasons i want to go manual is to help resolve a steering issue, and swapping the rack rules it out. plus i like the idea of simple. less stuff to go wrong. but if racks never fail, then the workload is either:

pas: swap out pump, change aux belt, change sensor
manual: remove pump and lines, change aux belt, change rack

so the main difference is do i want to change a sensor or change a rack? a sensor is £20 more than a rack, but a rack is a days work and a sensor is 10 minutes.

and if racks never fail...

and if the universal joint is causing the issue, it won't make a jot of difference what system i run...

time to check the u/j's for play

 

[daddycool]

can both u/j's be checked from inside the car?

 

[daddycool]

pas pressure sensor is £73 with VAT
just bought that rebuilt manual rack for £40 :approve:

 

[daddycool]

turned up today, not bad ordered thursday economy delivery. clean even came with tie rods, which i can't use but can flog to get a tenner back

 

[daddycool]

i fitted the manual rack but it's horrible. it feels more like a car with broken power steering than a car with a manual rack.

 

[daddycool]

power steering rack back in

now i need to go and get one of them leaky sensors