Steering groan

[losh1971]

I have an awful groan coming from my steering on long turns of the wheel particularly bad when I turn the wheel right. Is my rack stuffed?? I really hope not.

 

[Calaber]

Check the fluid level in the power steering first. The VN-VS could get pretty noisy when the fluid level fell. Check the pump, hoses and rack for leaks if the level is low. On a car as old as yours, anywhere in the power steering could be the source of leaks.

 

[greenacc]

If the fluid is black flush it out asap and hope you get lucky.
Check the rubber grommet around the steering column in the fireball too, they can be noisy rubbing on the column.

 

[losh1971]

The pump has at least one leak which seems to be the O'ring on the reservoir. I keep an eye on the fluid level but I will check it again. I'm hoping to change the seal today if I can get the pulley off to access the hidden bolt. I will change the fluid next week when I can get the ute back over the pit. Thinking of undoing the drain bolt on the rack and letting it run through but am mindful of getting air in the system. If I did drain the fluid what size O'ring would I need?

 

[VS 5.0]

Check the rubber grommet around the steering column in the fireball too, they can be noisy rubbing on the column.

This.

Hit with some CRC / WD40.

Cheapest and easiest option to start with.

 

[greenacc]

You can drain the reservoir by pulling off the bottom hose. Little bit of Air in steering system is not an issue it will flush itself out when you start it next.

 

[losh1971]

I have a pump to suck the oil out with. Im weary i might break the pipe on the resi if i put any sort of pressure on it. I have fixed the groan it was a little low on fluid about 150mls but that was enough to make it groan. Need to fix the leak and hopefully that will happen today

 

[greenacc]

It's just a rubber hose isn't it? Should pull off the resi easy enough unless your resi is really ratshit...

 

[losh1971]

Hose was soft so it came off no worries. I have read a couple of posts where the hose is hard to remove and the pipe has snapped as a result. I started to pull the hose and the pulley and realised i need a quarter drive socket set. Damn thing. I really need to start carrying it in the ute if i want to do any small jobs like this my fiances house. Ended up replacing about 600mls of fluid so that might freshen it up a little bit. Reckon by the time i sort the leak the fluid should be looking pretty red.

 

[losh1971]

This.

Hit with some CRC / WD40.

Cheapest and easiest option to start with.

i will squirt some wd 40 on the firewall as i have the rubbing noise as well. Had the rubbing noise for some time just didn't know how to fix it or where it was coming from.