Anyone have any ideas about heavy power steering? its just gone heavy in the last few days – fluid is full – no noises… just heavy! tried some googling skills but didn’t find a solution. Don’t think theres any fuses for power steering and can’t check the pump by sight can I? the belt looks ok as this was replaced about 5months ago with the cambelt.

any thoughts would be great.

03 berlingo 1.9d

If it is hydraulic and no fluid loss then most likely the pump has gone/is going. Watch out cuase when it goes you will get a bit of a shock at how heavy it becomes!

Flat tyre? 😆

Is it just a bit heavy or is it not working at all?

When my power steering started to go intermittently it was the alternator that was at fault.

I had a citeron saxo with an electric power steering pump that kept going heavy intermittently and it turned out to be a relay situated just above the pump that was playing up.

Don’t think theres any fuses for power steering

Don’t know about Berlingos but there may be some electrics involved in speed-sensitivity – I had a problem where the power steering decided the car was always going quickly so didn’t need much assistance, caused by a faulty connection to a valve somewhere.

Good information thanks guys – I’ll try and investigate further – I’ll check all the fuses just in case. Hope its either that or something more simple like the relay

I thought the powersteering was on the way out on my sprinter but it turned out the various steering linkages just needed a squirt of grease. On my vauxhall the power steering needs a minimum voltage from the alternator so if the voltage is dropping the steering goes – but thats very on/off, it doesn’t stiffen the power assistance just goes completely.

How heavy is heavy? If the pump has failed you’re not only turning without power steering, but against it. If it’s like driving without, I’d suspect some sort of belt or linkage issue.

That said, I’m guessing and not a mechanic, so could be talking utter pish.

If its heavy at low speeds but suddenly gets lighter when you rev the engine, then almost certainly the pump (or fluid levels)

My van got to the point where I had to heel and toe the pedals when parking so I use the brakes but keep the revs up so I could steer it 🙂