Scream from power steering on full lock

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Yorkshire Engineer
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 5:14 pm

Scream from power steering on full lock

Post by Yorkshire Engineer »

This is caused by the drive belt to the power steering pump slipping when steering reaches its mechanical limit.
In theory there is a mechanical blow off valve but this requires significant pressure to trigger it. Better to allow the belt to slip and remove load from more delicate parts of system. Just turn steering wheel one degree towards centre to take excessive load off system and scream will stop.
If scream occurs when turning wheel at moderate angles then drive belt is probably just a little too slack. Do not over-tighten. A drive belt is far cheaper than a hydraulic pump.
cavalier1990
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Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:15 pm
Location: Paisley, Scotland

Re: Scream from power steering on full lock

Post by cavalier1990 »

Yorkshire Engineer wrote:This is caused by the drive belt to the power steering pump slipping when steering reaches its mechanical limit.
In theory there is a mechanical blow off valve but this requires significant pressure to trigger it. Better to allow the belt to slip and remove load from more delicate parts of system. Just turn steering wheel one degree towards centre to take excessive load off system and scream will stop.
If scream occurs when turning wheel at moderate angles then drive belt is probably just a little too slack. Do not over-tighten. A drive belt is far cheaper than a hydraulic pump.
I've always avoided turning lock onto full stop as it loads up the rack, pump, belt, driveshafts etc. It also wears out tyres prematurely if you do it frequently and when moving. On some cars with rear drive I've seen people turn the full lock and the tyres actually start bouncing and warping at the contact points because on rear drive cars the lock can be a lot tighter. This is actually a grey area in car design as even though it is possible to do there should be a bump stop 1/2" before full lock of the rack. Manufacturers know it doesn't do any good but I guess they all want to claim they have x amount of turning circle, better than the rivals.
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