The steering on my van has got heavier although it is still assisted. It feels a bit dead and after turning it doesn’t seem to self centre as well as it used to, sometimes it almost feels like it starts to tuck in tighter rather than the lock winding off.

Its an Iveco Daily and I changed the power steering fluid earlier this year as the old stuff had ‘gone off’, the van had started getting tight spots in the steering after a run which is a sign the fluid was breaking down. After the fluid change it was nice and light.

There are no funny noises from the pump, and the assistance doesn’t increase/decrease with engine revs. My Transit had both these symptoms when the pump failed. I jacked it up and when the wheels are turned lock to lock there doesn’t seem to be any binding or play.

Its getting new front tyres this week so will get them to check tracking but I don’t really think thats the issue. MOT this month too.

Is there fluid in it?

Ive had similar on my van in the past it also pulsed while going round corners. , my tires were worn all funny like at an angle on inner edge after 30000 miles i had new tires fitte problem went away….. Problem is back , tires are worn on inner edge again.. Another 30000miles have passed

There was fluid in it when I jacked it up last week but will be double checking tomorrow as well as making sure the joints/knuckles in the steering column are good.

It has a steering box so I think that means its not rack and pinion, so that might offer some clues?

Interesting with the tyres thing…they don’t appear to be worn unevenly and they are probably 3-4mm left, but they are past their best with the shoulders worn, and they are winter tyres but the extra sipes and the square edges of the tread are worn off.

Does the system on these need bleeding ?

When I did the fluid the method was to turn it lock to lock to draw new fluid through from the reservoir and collecting the old return fluid.

It was quite stubborn and didn’t want to circulate the fluid so I ended up having to do it with the engine running but spent a fair bit of time ensuring it was bled afterwards. There was a fair bit of squelching going on when I started bleeding it but it stopped after a few lock to lock turns (engine off)

Well its fixed, I swapped the wheels round ready for new tyres and gave all the bushes, ball joints and the lower joint on the steering column a liberal spraying with WD40 followed by some spray white grease.

I then went out to get some timber and halfway across town I suddenly realised it felt rather nimble and eager on the roundabouts…fixed!

On a Daily, probably one of the many ball joints has got corrosion in it. WD40 will most likely of cured it for now, but chances are one of the ball joint boots has failed and let water in, so it’ll only be a matter of time before it starts rattling around, that’s if it’s not already.

And you do realise you bleed power steering with the engine running, so any air gets flushed through and out the return?
Doing it with the engine stopped, means air can quite easily just get pushed/pulled back and forth in the system.

There seems to be lots of conflicting advice on how to bleed it, but the consensus appears to be by far the best is drawing in new fluid by suction, second is wheels off the ground, engine off and turning lock to lock for a minimum of 20 times. Engine running is meant to be the worst as the pump will foam up any air bubbles in the fluid, 20 minutes running with wheels straight ahead and then turning left to right multiple times was suggested. But as soon as you hit full lock the pump bypass opens and the fluid can cavitate and undo all your hard work.

I used engine running to pump new fluid round and collect the old, then engine off to bleed.

Some people over think things.

Fill reservoir, start engine, top up reservoir, turn steering lock to lock until steering feels good topping up if needed, and job done. Any remaining air in the fluid will work it’s way out once it’s been sat for a while. Steering boxes aren’t much different from racks in terms of bleeding, as they’re still essentially a double acting ram.

Yes, in an ideal world a hydraulic pump should never be allowed to pump air/gas, but it takes a lot of cavitation before you do enough damage to cause noticeable damage. I’ve seen power steering pumps run with no fluid for several days, yet they still work fine once the system has been fixed and fluid refilled.