Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi Everybody,
Just got back from a month visit to KZN and hopefully I will submit a report thereon shortly. I have detected a small irritating problem with my power steering and hope that Someone can give a bit of advice before I take it in for a professional assessment. When I turn the steering to its limit when stationery or moving slowly forward or in reverse (both to the left and right) there is a slight but distinct shudder that can be felt on the steering wheel. When I pull off and the speed picks up to above 15kph it goes away. Has anybody experienced anything similar, and if so, was it serious, costly to repair etc.
Thanks for any assistance or advice.

I'm not sure what model you drive, so this might be a stupid question: Did you check the Drive belt condition and tension? My 3.0 V6 has got a manual adjusting tensioner and I had this problem, just tightening the belt tension sorted it out.

Hi, as 4x4fan said, may be a good thing to check the obvious first. Usually this symptom relates to low hydrolic fluid level. Check this first aas it is the easiest. Also, if the hydrolic fluid overheated for some reason, or sometimes when old, it fills with air bubbles as the viscosity of the fluid is degraded. It might be a good idea to replace with a good quality fluid, not any cheap stuff please. To "bleed" the system, turn the steering full lock to either side alternating, with the cap removed on the fluid container, while the vehicle is idling. There should be no bubbles after a few full locks on either side.

Hope this helps, since i dont think thiis is related to a pump failure, as when pump cycle increases, the symptom dissapears.

Let us know the outcome.

Cheers
Johann

Thanks Guys,
Sorry, I should have mentioned the model etc. It is a 2000 Blister V6 manual SWB. I have checked the fluid and it seems to be OK. The garage that did the service I at 200K,and set me back R14 big ones, also checked the fluid etc.That was 5000 kms ago.
What I have also omitted to mention is that a year ago when I was in Namibia I had the vehicle in 4WD high while travelling on the dirt roads. When I arrived at Sesriem I put the shift back into 2WD but the green 4x4 lights on the dash kept flickering. On the tar road to sousesvlei after about 6-8Kms one hell of a lot of smoke came pouring out of the engine compartment. I stopped and it was obvious that a whole lot of fluid had leaked onto the engine. I solved the problem by reversing and then going forward again twice. This "unjammed" the 4X4 mode, the dash lights went off and the smoking stopped. I was wondering if this could maybe be the cause of the problem.
Any comments will be appreciated.

littleman wrote:When I turn the steering to its limit when stationery or moving slowly forward or in reverse (both to the left and right) there is a slight but distinct shudder that can be felt on the steering wheel.

One should never hold a power steering hard against it's maximum position.
It should made an audible complaint when at that point. The judder could be another 'complaint'.

Go study how a power steering box works and you will understand why not.
Look here

... when I was in Namibia I had the vehicle in 4WD high while travelling on the dirt roads. When I arrived at Sesriem I put the shift back into 2WD but the green 4x4 lights on the dash kept flickering. On the tar road to sousesvlei after about 6-8Kms one hell of a lot of smoke came pouring out of the engine compartment. I stopped and it was obvious that a whole lot of fluid had leaked onto the engine. I solved the problem by reversing and then going forward again twice. This "unjammed" the 4X4 mode, ..

If the vehicle was in 4H, there should not have been any "winding" up.
You did not have it in 4HLC ?

In any case, I fail to see how the 4WD could have caused the power steering fluid to 'leak' onto the engine, unless you had to 'fight' the steering for a considerable time (due to the wind-up).

Is the operation of the power steering OK apart from what you described in your first post?

Ja the power steering works perfectly otherwise. I was only concerned that it may be a sign of something big that could occur if not attended to. You know that "stitch in time " thing. The fluid that escaped may not necessary have been from the power steering but from the 4x4 box. I drove in 4x4 high because some "fundies" told me that this would give better traction on gravel roads.
Anyway thanks for your input. It is much appreciated.