Hard to turn.. very hard Topic is solved

MDK · Post by **MDK** » 03 Jun 2021, 18:40

Hey there all.. so my R wagon is hard to turn to the left or right. I took to a friend of mine and He said it's probably the steering assist solenoid on the rack. I checked IPDUSA and FCP euro.. no listing for that part Has anyone else come across this problem?

Post by **kcodyjr** » 04 Jun 2021, 20:13

I trust you've checked the steering fluid level and condition. Next, if there's no pump noise, it isn't that. I trust your serpentine belt is still present and not snapped, or seized, or making screeching noises, or anything like that?

Before condemning the rack look for anything binding up, like the knuckle in the steering shaft, or the outer tie rod ends, or the strut bearings - there wasn't any recent suspension work done, was there?

If all else is ruled out, then indeed it's got to be a rack problem, and you wouldn't try to replace that solenoid. You'd just put a rebuilt rack in the car... unless you REALLY want to pull your rack, rebuild it, and put it back in... and if so, can you suffer your R being out of service that long?

Post by **br0dy519** » 08 Jun 2021, 07:04

I would like to add to look at the low steering column shaft / U-joint. I sprayed mine with PB Blaster and it loosened up the steering quite a bit. Replacement is obviously the preferred option.

Post by **erikv11** » 10 Jun 2021, 08:38

MDK wrote: ↑03 Jun 2021, 18:40 Hey there all.. so my R wagon is hard to turn to the left or right. I took to a friend of mine and He said it's probably the steering assist solenoid on the rack. I checked IPDUSA and FCP euro.. no listing for that part Has anyone else come across this problem?

MDK, what solved this?

MDK · Post by **MDK** » 10 Jun 2021, 20:09

I flushed the rack with Petosin power steering fluid.. it's better....The funny thing is.. the pumped never whined .. weird

fontoledo · Post by **fontoledo** » 16 Jun 2021, 18:24

Hey guys, I have a similar problem. The funny thing, is that it only happens when the car warms up: as soon as I take off in the morning, steering is easy and smooth. After maybe 15 minutes of driving, it starts getting hard and stays like that.

@MDK's solution seems quite easy to implement. Anyone would mind walking me through how to perform the flushing?

Thanks!