Hi,
I have a power steering issue. When I start the car I get a noise that sounds like a restriction in the power steering system (a rubbing type sound I originally thought was belt noise). The noise is still present when driving. If a apply any sort of turning force it disappears. Even light pressure on the steering wheel when on the drive.

I thought it might be the reservoir filter so replaced the reserviour and flushed the system with no change.

FL2 is 2010 with a 2 2td4 engine.

Any ideas would be appreciated as I know if I go to he garage they will likely guess and replace pump or rack.

Steering feels fine. Not lumpy etc.

Thanks for any advise.

Could be the belt idler (tensioner?) pulley. Mine died early on. Bearing was failing, any extra load stopped the slop. Eventually seized, stopping the belt = no power steering for 30 miles 😳 Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

That was my original thought. If it want for the turning affecting it that would have been 1st check. I will check anyway incase. Thanks

topcat2vin wrote:

Hi,
I have a power steering issue. When I start the car I get a noise that sounds like a restriction in the power steering system (a rubbing type sound I originally thought was belt noise). The noise is still present when driving. If a apply any sort of turning force it disappears. Even light pressure on the steering wheel when on the drive.

I thought it might be the reservoir filter so replaced the reserviour and flushed the system with no change.

FL2 is 2010 with a 2 2td4 engine.

Any ideas would be appreciated as I know if I go to he garage they will likely guess and replace pump or rack.

Steering feels fine. Not lumpy etc.

Thanks for any advise.

Hi,

I have not done much about it since posting. I did change the reservoir and fluid and no change. The fluid seems to circulate all the time when idle so I also assumed there may be a blockage at a bypass valve. I am going to run the car briefly an listen to all the belt pulleys etc. with stethoscope (or long screwdriver) to make sure it is in the steering system and not the PS pump. If not the pump is is at the rack and as it is a bigger job i will talk to garage.

If I get a solution i will let you know, I would also appreciate it is you too could pass on any solution to the issue.

Thanks

Thanks for the reply.
Yes I will re-post if I find a solution before you do.
Good luck.

I have now installed a refurbished rack and a reservoir. Mechanic then noticed the feed pipe very hot so we installed a new pump and still no difference - still have hydraulic noise and very hot feed pipe). Could I have an issue with a blocked pipe and if so which one is most likely?

Very interesting! I am shocked that a new rack has not fixed the problem!
I've had a good fiddle and listen to mine.
I am convinced that the noise is coming from the vicinity of the steering rack on the drivers side / where the pipes feed in.
I have noticed that one of the pipes down by and connecting to the rack is getting very hot yet the fluid in the reservoir is only getting normally warm.
I have added some hydraulic oil thickener, system lubricator and leak sealer fluid to the system. This has made little or no difference.
I am surprised no one here has encountered anything like this before.
Please continue to update this thread if you discover any more information / a solution. I will continue to do the same.

Had a bit of a think about this overnight.
Don't know if any of this may help either of us figure it out?
When the problem first started on my car it was intermittent and for a time only seemed to occur after I had driven a good few miles (presumably meaning when the system / oil had warmed up)
All this would strongly suggest it is not just a blocked or restricted pipe?
Did your mechanic change the entire steering rack or perhaps transfer some parts over - say a valve block or something from the old to the new?
I have had a look on parts diagrams and cannot see a bypass valve on any of them listed as a separate item though I was able to spot a 'one way valve' on the diagrams for the Freelander 1.

When ours was about 18 months old the idler pulley that tensions the belt for the power steering seized and the vehicle was recovered to Stockport LR.
The service department were actually old fashioned despite being a shiny franchise (since moved to a newer shinyer bigger showroom), and they would always talk you through what they had done to your vehicle. When it went in they replaced the pulley and belt, and noticed that the power steering was lumpy (I have no mechanical sympathy so never noticed), they then replaced the power steering rack, reservoir, and all the pipes. Apparently there had been an issue with weld spatter contaminated steering racks, the metal filings that resulted blinded the filter in the reservoir, and importantly were nearly impossible to clean out from the pipes.

So standard procedure from LR was to replace the lot under warranty.

Not what you wanted to hear I am sure, but maybe changing the pipes/hoses is prudent. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Thanks for the reply Andy.
I'm not ruling anything out, just discussing my thoughts here:
I have sprayed the belt and all around all the pulley wheels with WD40 (not a fix for anything I know but as a tool for investigating the issue). No difference.
Noting your post back in May the aircon is driven by the same belt. Switching the aircon on and off makes no difference.
Mine is a 2010. The weld spatter issue only affected earlier models as far as I'm aware besides Topcat has had his steering rack, reservoir and pump replaced - no difference.
The steering seems to work perfectly apart from the noise.
Things do seem to be pointing towards something to do with the pipes though it's hard to imagine what could be causing a restriction that came and went at times when the problem first occurred and what could have got loose that was large enough to cause a sufficient restriction to be causing the noise. None of the pipes appear to be kinked or externally damaged.
Could there be a valve in one of the pipes, one that is not fully opening or fully closing? That would explain everything!
It would be great if the problem could be cured just by changing one of the pipes - if it was possible to figure out which one to change and despite some of them costing in the region of £200 each.

For too many years I worked on Forklifts for a living where hydraulics both abound and can be well and truly hidden.

I have on occasion had the inner lining split, this creates a flap that acts as a valve, partially restricting flow at high flow rates - undetectable unless out of plain inquisitiveness you butcher the pipe and slit it length wise.

No leak, steel reinforcing intact so no kinks, just hours and hours fault finding that was difficult to explain to a paying customer, especially when you are replacing hoses one at a time, rebuild, test and repeat. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Aye, could be something like that!
I guess the next step is to remove the pipe that is getting hot, try blowing compressed air through it in both directions and clean it out with solvent, replace and test.
I've been kind of putting off fixing it in the hope that someone else will post having had exactly the same symptoms and be able to say how it was fixed.
Getting somewhere at least. I was ready to change the rack until Topcat changed his and it made not difference.
Thanks!

I am down to the pipes now as well.

As far as I am aware the replacement rack was complete with valve so this is not the issue. The mechanic felt the hot fluid going through the valve was making the noise. I will be starting the the pressure pipes. The mechanic has said the steel pipes beside rack rack can give trouble over time so maybe they will be first then the pump to rack pipe and lastly the return pipe. The reservoir to pump pipe is bigger and I should be amble to check it.

Will check pipes for signs of damage before changing.

Unfortunately out a lot of money so far replacing good parts.

Well, after £500+ of parts + Labour changing the pressure pipes has resolved the issue.

The only original part left in the PS system is the return pipe.

Hope this helps the next person with the problem.

Note, the pipes showed no sign of being kinked or blocked.