Hello; I have looked through the threads and although I have gleaned some salient facts I am still unsure as to the nature of my cars current minor predeicament. 1.8 8v 1991 She whines, the steering is tight in close quaters and especially when cold; feels like steering my old camper, ungiving and unfriendly, and the whine occurs on full lock either way and sounds the same sort of noise as you would get from a fan belt going on a car that had one.....so figured it possibly the steering belt, (checked fluid levels and were fine) but when we turned steering wheel when stationary, bonet open and car running, the whine seemed to be coming from the pump. Then I read some interesting snipets here and am confused...possibly the pump or possibly the steering rack (!) and never trust a pump even if its new; muh. Any advice anyone before I splurge on a pump for it? Cheers Rae
A belt would sound more like a screech of chirping, a whine would probably be the relief valve in the PAS pump 'blowing off'. What sort of condition is the power steering fluid? Maybe a flush and renewal of steering fluid?
Check belt tension, check fluid level when cold, and if the fluid level is ok then do lock to lock a few times to get rid of any air then re-check fluid. It could be fluid has lost its properties due to age. Its possible that the eccentric gear inside is going or a bearing. My pump is starting to sound the same but i changed the fluid and its not as bad and sprayed the bearing behind the pulley with WD40. Its just a process of elimination.
Thanks for all your advice; the belt is fine but the fluid is abit wrong looking; the resevoir has a red top; I take it that means the red stuff to go in - my next question is...what kind - there are soo many types..ones with ii in the name or iii and other such differences. I will be lookingh in my manual when the car comes home just thoguht I would ask here also. cheers, Rae
Got manual, tbh, the instructions and diagrams for readjusting the belt are poor ...want to tighten it, undone 2 bolts, the ones we can see and from our research there are two more we cant see we must first losen......its sunny outside, the fluid has been replaced and we'll get this cracked soon, just thought I would post here on the off chance anyone has any top tips or much needed advice. cheers
my top tip is throw the mk2 golf rubbish in the bin and fit the alternator + pas setup from a mk3 golf 1.8-2.0 8v. much better especially the pas tensioning setup
hahhahah.... cant find the tensioner bolt although have found where its MEANT to be...see the pivoty thing and the slide what not thing...no bolt...gonna tighten it maybe without bolt.......losen everything, pull it down then tighten it all back up...muh will consider your advice in the long term but for now just want the belt tighter fingers crossed
my top tip is throw the mk2 golf rubbish in the bin and fit the alternator + pas setup from a mk3 golf 1.8-2.0 8v. much better especially the pas tensioning setup ................. how easy is this to do?
tightened belt...had to losed 7 bolts, could not have done this alone...but done it! dont squeek, it dont make any unforgiving noises anymore so I am happy Rae, now to test drive it. winner. cheers for all your advice.
