STEERING LOCKED UP

[rogerk]

Well this is the third time the steering has locked up and my wife is refusing to get in the car again until I can prove it will not happen again

First time it was at National weekend 2008 while going around the safari park, we had just gone over a cattle grid slowly, shaking the car and when wanting to turn the steering wheel would not turn but i managed to violently force the wheel and all seemed well.

the next time it happened was while on a club Sunday run on a minor country road and just after going over a pot hole, and again after stopping and looking I forced the steering wheel and all seam OK again See my previous post of HELP PLEASE.

Third time was this weekend on the Scenic Run in the Peak District National Park

again just after going over a cattle grid . This time I could not free the steering.

With all the area members around giving advice and help in diagnose it is believed to be the steering rack

Guess what job I will be doing tomorrow.

I'll post picture when I've stripped the rack down But going on holiday this weekend so just replacing the rack it the first instance.

Roger

[Russell]

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Really sorry to hear this Roger, fingers crossed you will get to the route of the cause soon.

[singapore stag]

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Roger, This is the first timeI have seen your stag close up, even though it is a picture, but what a lovely looking Stag yoy have! I love the the colour and deepwet look shine....

Sukh.

[rogerk]

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Hi Sukh

thanks for the comment

Picture makes it look better than what it is

loads of little bits to do

Roger

[Gresley]

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Sorry to hear that Roger, hope it is sorted soon.

[STAG1973]

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Hope you get it sorted Roger,im interested intowhat it could be:?

Adrian

[european voyager]

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It could be the steering lock , is the barrell where the key goes into secure ? the bolts may be loose or it could be worn not allowing the steering lock to fall back enough.
I would also ckeck the lower steering uj,s you may have one that is breaking up or siezed , id take it off completly and try how they move , Is there anything loose down there such as say a log bolt in the u/j fouling the power steering pipes ?
Hope this helps , keep us posted.

[rogerk]

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european voyager wrote:

It could be the steering lock , is the barrell where the key goes into secure ? the bolts may be loose or it could be worn not allowing the steering lock to fall back enough.
I would also ckeck the lower steering uj,s you may have one that is breaking up or siezed , id take it off completly and try how they move , Is there anything loose down there such as say a log bolt in the u/j fouling the power steering pipes ?
Hope this helps , keep us posted.

Thanks for the suggestions

I have been chatting to Rogerp and he has suggested the same

re the steering lock--- its not that already tried putting the steering lock on and steering wheel has no movement

Take steering lock off and the steering wheel will move about a quarter turn in each direction before you hear the steering pump over loading and you gett a firm postive stop in movement.

will take photos when stripping down and post in Magazine and forum

Roger

[european voyager]

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I think the joints are siezed in the joint down at the bottom of the column where it goes onto the rack , Thats what ive found in other thing ive worked on it goes tight then loose then tight .

[andy p]

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sorry to hear about this, sounds very strange to me,

[rogerk]

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Hi Andy

Plan to check the universal joints first by removing the intermediate shaft first and see if the steering wheel moves full circle. then refit intermediate shaft and recheck.

Roger

[marshman]

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hi Roger,

Don't think it can be the UJ's as you say you can hear the pump overload when you try to turn. if the UJ's were jammed/seized then there would be no load on the pump. The UJ's went stiff on my Land rover a few years back, a common problem, and it only resulted in a loss of power assistance, not in jammed steering. I favour somthing jammed in the rack, probably a broken tooth.

just my thoughts.

Roger (J)

[Greenstag]

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marshman wrote:

I favour somthing jammed in the rack, probably a broken tooth.

Roger (J)

Hi Roger...from speaking to you at National that would be my bet as well....keep us informed.

David

[stustag]

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Hi Roger

Sorry to here you have this problem again but at least it had a safe ending!

From the symptoms you describe I would say you either have something stuck in the rack, maybe a broken tooth but if this happened with the limited clearances in the rack body it must be only a chipped tooth.

Or some debris has got inside the upper column maybe?

Stuart

[V Mad]

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rogerk wrot

Take steering lock off and the steering wheel will move about a quarter turn in each direction before you hear the steering pump over loading and you gett a firm postive stop in movement.

will take photos when stripping down and post in Magazine and forum

Roger

If that is really happening then the problem is not in the steering column, it is in the rack or in the front suspension somehwere (ball joints, struts, etc).