afternoon all, had a bit of a problem with me car for a while with the steering weight always changing. originally the car was an N/A auto, its now a TT man but the problem has followed it through the conversion so im guessing its a steering bind or maybe an electrics problem. ive kinda just put up with it till now but figure its time i do something about it. i HAVE searched (steering weight/power assisted steering/steering fault/etc), but havnt been able to find anything on the topic, and the tech-section is down at the moment. at least from my computer it is. from my understanding of power assisted steering, at low speeds the steering aid is high (resulting in light steering), whether its from more oil pressure supplied or an electrical retarder or sumthing i dont know, and at higher speeds the assist is low, making the steering heavier and less fiddly/sensitive. im used to hydraulic systems on heavy machinery, not necesarily my car basically the problem is that most of the time my steering just remains really heavy. even when i first start the car and idle out of my driveway it feels like a truck, same deal after its been running for a while, say if i was parking or sumthing. at other times tho i can start my zed and everything will work fine for a while, the steering is light at low speeds and when cruising its a nice solid weight so i dont tram all over the road. buuuttt... this never lasts, it might work fine for a half hour or so, but sooner or later it will just remain heavy its a pain in the a#$@ because its so easy and enjoyable to drive when its working fine, but the difference when it goes heavy is really significant and makes it a pain to drive. if anyone can help out, or if theyve seen/found a post that i missed in me search, it would be appreciated. cheers, Jadyn
Mine STILL has power steering problems since I changed my clutch over a month ago. Im all out of ideas as to WTF is causing it. Mine however is constantly hard. All the time. Before this crap happened, it was like a hot knife through butter and a joy to drive. Now its a royal pain in the ass to drive. If someone has some bright ideas for either of us... throw em our way! MoulaZX
blackj_ck: is there any play in the wheel? I have a feeling it would be a seal in the pump. MoulaZX: make sure the line are not crimped. is there enough fluid in the pump. its quite possable a seal or somthing is also gone inside the pump.
i have the same intermitent issue, however for me it often jumps from easy to hard / hard to easy mid corner. now THAT is fun! have to really have my witts about me as i've almost gone up gutters a few (dozen) times. i'll get off my arse and sort it one day.
Nah, far as im concerned it is not a mechanical problem. Pump spins fine, plenty of fluid, lines are fine and no weird noises. There just is no power steering. MoulaZX
YES!! thats my problem too! cant say ive ever hit a gutter coz of it but its fukn annoying!!! my power steering is generally very light compared to most zeds ive driven which isnt an issue for me at all but sometimes mid corner it goes hard for a bit then goes back to easy... it feels like someone is putting their hand on the wheel and pulling against me me for a second then as i turn further they let go... ideas?? (hijacked thread much??)
the ghost of a japanese worker killed on the z production line is wanting to have a drive of the car he died to produce... it is NOT the dodgy speedo in my case as i've had that professionally fixed. i reckon a loose connector in the PS electrics is the culprit as it all happens so fast, i doubt its a hydraulics thing... could be wrong though
do u know which connectors i can clean/where they are?? its not killing me but would be nice to get it fixed
i know there is one that attaches to the steering rack, should be d/s inboard from the wheel well abit. i've tried that one a few times with no luck so for me i think i need to trace the wiring. time to pull out the service book methinks.
hmm ill get the car up on the hoist (2 forklifts lol) and have a look around. ill give cleaning that connector a try and let ya know on monday cheers
the steering wheel feels fine, doesnt seem to be any play, or much of a dead-zone if thats what you mean. the column itself does slide left and right a bit, but thats because where the column comes through the firewall its buggered in the bearing/housing/bit whatever it is. im assuming thats a different problem because while driving if i try yanking the column side-to side i only get about an inch play and it dont do anything to help the weight? that was next on the list to fix my steering change doesnt seem as drastic as everyone else who has commented, it seems everyone elses flicks between heavy and light fast, and i agree id think thatd be an electrical fault, but mine is either hard all the time, or starts light and slowly gets heavier until it just stays at a certain weight..?? jadyn
The easiest way to rule out the speedo is to unplug the whole cluster, then go for a drive! I think the way some of the electrics in the zed are rigged up are a bit strange, I think it could do with a major re-route - jump all the lines that go straight from the control units or the electrical components, as opposed to having those simple links go through 3 other looms before it connects. The very first being the link between the speed sensor and the ECU, it shouldn't have to go through the speedo first!
my speedo actually is out of whack since the TT swap. its now about 10km slow because im still running an N/A auto rear for fun buuuttt, the problem was there before the swap, and it worked fine back then (the speedo, not the steering). on a side note i fixed the steering column play, had to knock the outer/lower sleeve on the column sheath back down because its broken out of the firewall housing and was moving around. also realigned the wedge-lock things holding the column to the dash, just to rule the side-to-side play out as a problem. still heavy to drive though, just takes the fun out of driving it had a quick look at the plugs down near the power-steering pump as-well but they look fine. personally i think its more of a hydraulic fault, seeing as how it doesnt just snap between light and heavy, rather it sorta fades out. unless its a dodgy speed sensor, which could explain the variation in the weight of the steering rather than just the on/off - 0/1 signal that a broken/worn wire would give, would mean the steering assist would swap instantly between high (light) and low (heavy) assist? or whatever the correct terminology is for it, haha, sure ya's get what im on about anyway... if what im reading is right though and it uses the same sensor as the speedo then i cant see how its a problem from there if my speedo is working fine?? is there any particular areas of the hyd assist system that are prone to wear or that would be a good place to start looking? i look down in me engine bay and cant see nothing now theres turbos in the way cheers
Hey mate, I think the actual speedo circuit stems off the link between the speed sensor and the power steering. I think this is so because when I took a datascan reading while my speedo was going out of whack, it was giving me the right speed. BUT, at the same time my power steering was going way out of whack. Now that i've replaced the speedo gauge with a jap spec, the speedo reads fine (I think) and the Power steering is fine (SOMETIMES it gets hard a bit too easy ) The best way I think now would be to get someone to datascan your car while you're driving it, see if the ecu speedo reading is the same as your speedo gauge reading. Or at the same time have some one drive next you at a set speed then compare there. Cheers
Problem is electrical. There is a solenoid in the rack that can play up (or just have dirty connections) have a look at that and see if it helps. It's near the uni joint.
According to the manual, if the signals are not correct from Foot brake, hand brake and or gear position (P or N auto or N for manual) then steering will go into safe mode which is heavy steering. Obviously speed signals will do it to as they use speed sensitive steering to decrrease assistance at higher road speeds.
interesting... that paves the way to a whole bunch of other places to look now hey! I think we all need to have a sit down and cover all possible routes, that way we can diagnose pretty much everyone's problem. We've already mentioned the link that goes from the speed sensor to the speedo, then to the ECU and then to the PS unit. Add more! Cheers Greg.
Anyone know which wires are meant to give said brake signal or neutral signal? This may be whats happened to me and possibly a lot of others, definitely makes sense for them, it may just end up being a loose connector for one of these signals. MoulaZX
Brake signal not sure, neutral switch is on the tranny itself. Which runs through the alt harness, onto the drivers side wheel arch (bunch of connectors under the power steering reservoir and then through to the ECU.
