Power Steering Failure

[Medc]

After going through a car wash my power steering has stopped working. The error light came up and there was no power at all. Still drivable but somewhat hard etc.

I checked the wires to the pump and confirmed that they were affected by water. I cleaned and dried the connection and retested. There is power coming to the pump but the pump no longer works.

I had a VX chap check and reset the fault codes but this didn't fix the issue although it did clear the error light. I was therefore looking to buy a new pump, (£600+ from VX or about £150 on ebay).

This has not been working for just over two weeks and driven daily, randomly on Saturday the power steering started working for 20 mins with a slight whining when I turned the wheel but then stopped again and hasn't worked since.

This tells me that the pump does still work and buying a new one may not fix my issue. I have read that a tech2 session may help resolve the issue, any advise would be great.

Thanks

[pugmania1958]

i had a similar problem with my power steering 3 years ago , it stated making weard whining/growling noises and then packed up, i had to have it recovered from nottingham back to norfolk to my local vauxhall dealer and they replaced the pump assy under warranty as it had water getting into the unit through a poorly sealed blank connector on the front of the pump assembly, the ford at rufford where i was staying finished the unit off as every time i went through it the pump was submerged ! ive now got another problem with the power steering on it again , it keeps showing the steering symbol on start up intermittently and it does not work until i restart it.

[cjamesenorf]

Same problem... anymore light on the issue would be greatly appreciated??

[Medc]

I contacted my warrantee people and they suggested I take it to their garage to have some diagnostics done, unfortunately they aren't Vauxhall dealers so they managed to simply make the car worse.

Now I have error lights for TC and brake light switch, but they did show that the pump is working but the sensor is not. It may be a CIM unit that needs replacing and that isn't covered by the warrantee and would be a Vauxhall main dealer job to Tech 2 the new unit.

I have the car booked in with Vauxhall tomorrow to do the diagnostics and will take it from there.

Hopefully I can get this back working soon, parallel parking is quite difficult without the power steering!

[Medc]

I booked the car into Vx for a check, they cleared the fault lights and told me I need a new steering pump.

I have finally managed to get round to fixing this issue. I bought a second hand steering pump from a breaker via Ebay, I paid £80 inc delivery although most seemed to be about £130+.

The unit was listed as the steering pump located under the driver's side light behind the bumper which is exactly the one I needed, I think the pump was moved on the facelift models.

Changing the unit was quite easy, I'll write a how to shortly.

Once the replacement unit was in place I topped up the steering fluid to the correct level. ( Its the green coloured fluid not cheaper red one, about £10 for 1Lt)

This resolved the issue straight away and has been perfect for over a week now.

[soulman]

nice one !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11