Power Steering Loss??

[shadowman]

Hi Guys

I have a weird issue that has never happened before.

I don't know if its because the car has been left undriven for a few days or not but... I tried to drive the car to work yesterday and everything was fine for a while...and thenI realised the steering had become heavy. It was still driveable but just very heavy and heavier at lower speeds when cornering. Then I noticed the HICAS light come on and stayed on.

Now, the last time the HICAS light came on it was just a question of topping up the power steering fluid, which I learnt from this site. so I did the same thing, I topped up the fluid (it didn't need very much) and I test drove the car for a while. Again, everything seemed fine, and whne I tried to make my work the steering again became heavy. So i drove the car home again and left it there.

Have I developed a leak somewhere? Could it be a sensor? I'm not sure
I might just take it to the local garage I use and get them to check. apart from that the car drives fine, starts without any problems whatsoever.

If anyone else has this issue then I would really like to know, and thanks

 

[Mr.F]

The default on Z32 power steering is to the heaviest setting if any fault occurs anywhere in the system. If topping up levels doesn't cure the problem, then look for leakage, HICAS electrical connections, pressure switch on the pipework etc.
The HICAS system takes inputs from a whole range of sensors - speed sensor, angle sensor, neutral switch, stop lamp, engine rpm etc.
There is a built-in diagnostic procedure - if you have a copy of the workshop manual, see page ST-73 and onwards.

 

[madmarco]

I have a leak in my power steering and it's easy to spot. If you dont see fluid all over your undertrays then you are probably OK. More likely problem is your just not filling the resevior up enough. When you add fluid it passes through a screen so may look fuller than it is. This has tricked me before as when you start the car the level will drop as the system is charged. Keep adding small amounts (with the engin off) until the level reaches near the top of the plastic insert. Even with my leak I will get a couple of months between fill ups.

 

[Mr.F]

The other point when filling is that there is a "hot" and a "cold" position. Running the engine while filling helps bleed the system too.

 

[z32bolt]

check all the above and also check the belt isnt slipping silly i know but worth checking. your speedo doesnt stop working when this happens does it? as marco said its an easy spot to see if it leaks i used a pice of white poster baord paper and waited to see if red droplets splashed down over night... failing that you will soon see whtas going on down there if you remove the induction piping. if its and na the job is a pice of ****. if its a tt its a longer more involved job. first go took me 4 hours to pull the pump second go it was out and back in within two hours and i was nicely refreshed with a few cuppas. i recon realitically you could pull the pump and assosiated liuneson an na in about an hour or less.

 

[Nidge74]

This has happened to me a couple of times in the last 2 years, normally in cold weather.

All of a sudden the steering will fail approaching a junction, but within a few seconds of setting off again the steering is restored.

been a while so I hadn't bothered to mention it, perhaps I should watch this thread,

For info, mine is a TT