Power Steering Pump Intermittent Fault

[hellojohngotanoldmotor]

I've just found out that my daughters 97 1.1 Saxo power steering pump sometimes doesn’t work & then kicks in. Steering goes heavy & you can't hear it whirring. Are there any electrical fittings that need checking or common faults to check for before suspecting the pump?

[greyjasper51]

Theres only 1 electrical connection to the pump, its the one on the end of it... Check wiring but its normally the pump mate

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[stevo67]

You could try cleaning the connections on the pas relay(grey 1 under or near battery tray)

[hellojohngotanoldmotor]

Thanks. Will do. Large round grey plastic cylinder shaped thing with wiring plugged in. Plug retaining clips look a bit breakable so need to be careful. Just disturbed it a bit & now working again so maybe just give it a bit of a wiggle first.

[elmtree]

Hi to anyone still interested in the intermittent power steering fault.
I have a 1.5D saxo from 2000. PAS sometimes working from a cold start, and somtimes working from a warm start. But neither is assured. It will start at some point during a 10 minuet drive sooner or later, but it wiil start. I have visually checked the grey cylinder shaped relay, where was no sigh of any corrosion, very clean. I checked the the earth from the pump to the inner wing and improved that a bit.
I also have a flashing orange key warning light and a preminent red parking light on the dash display.
I need know if these problems could be related via the ignition wiring or relays?
Also is there a way I could test the PAS relay or the pump.
If the pump was very old could it behave in this way or is it more likely to just die?
Any help would be much very appreciated.. Thanks

[stevo67]

Sounds like the pas pump has sticking brushes inside,with the engine running give the pump a gentle tap with a rubber mallet..Flashing orange key is the immobiliser light,red handbrake light is either your low on brake fluid or have a sensor/wiring fault.

[elmtree]

Thanks, great help, I'll check those out on Sunday. Cheers mate.

[saxokid100]

Also orange relay above the in car fuse boxes controls powersteering and heater unit..

[elmtree]

Ok I Think I've sorted this. All relays and fuse were in good condition. I removed the PAS pump and remover its mounting brace. Then found you can only separate the motor housing from the pump, i.e. to gain access to the brushes and copper rotor you need to brake in. This is easy enough though, carefully grind or file off the 6 tangs protruding through the pressed steel end cap, and work a screwdriver between the end cap and the housing, work around the circumference little by little, lift away carefully, I found a little graphite dust, and 1 of the 4 brushes was sticky, there's 0,5mm deep groove where the graphite brushes had worn into the copper and what appeared to be a bit of localized heating in 2 to 3 places about that groove. I blew the dust out of everything and cleaned it off with brake cleaner, cut a strip of sand paper 'not Emery tape which may contain conductive oxides' the same width as the groove. Clean up the groove and the brushes. Ease the brush assembly back in to position holding the brushes clear with a small screwy, put a dot of copper slip on the end of the shaft, and re mount the end cap. I wired the cap to the body temporally to test the motor, powered off a 12v battery pack. Ran fine, on and off 20 times, no probs (both directions! lol), no heat, no noise and it spat fluid all over the ald fella so it's pumping OK. Next I sanded the paint off a couple off places around the end cap and ran a little solder around, remover the wire, test again! Refit on car refill reservoir etc. Working great.

[sexy_gt]

Thx for the reply.