Power Steering Pump Issues

[Fallen Angel]

My mum has a 54 plate 1.2 SX Ibiza (Petrol) which has barely done 30k.
She rarely does long journey's as she lives in a small village which pretty much has everything around her she needs.

Recently she went out for a drive and a warning light came up on the dash for the power steering. I asked on here what the problem could be as the steering still felt normal. Someone suggested it could have come on as she is only doing short journey's and the pump is not getting a full charge they also suggested to take it out for a couple longer journeys and see if it stays on.
Well it turns out despite the car being serviced last year, the power steering reservoir was bone dry, but with no sign of a leak
Mum has topped the reservoir up but the light still comes on intermittantly and the steering is now getting heavier.
Could the power steering pump now be damaged because of no fluid?
Could it just be down to trapped air in the system since it ran dry?
What should we do??

Please help, i really need to get this sorted asap for her, she is in Leicester this week and i want to be able to get it sorted by the time she goes back home to Lincoln. My dad died last year so she has no help at home and is pretty much living on nothing so she can't just take it too a garage and get them to look at it

 

[kriso]

Presumeably it had fluid in it at some point, so the fact that it was dry when you checked it suggests there is a leak somewhere. Have you checked it again to see if the level has dropped since you filled it up?

 

[RUM4MO]

I was probably me that answered you, and I said that it might be the BATTERY that was not getting fully recharged by the short journeys. Now you've found that the steering system reservoir is empty!!!!! - that can only mean that you have a leak somewhere - these systems do not "use" fluid - ie they should not need topped up unless some has been lost - ie a leak! I believe that the correct way to refill with steering fluid would be to raise the front off the ground, add fluid to the correct level, slowly move the steering system back and forward over its entire travel a few times - but do not hold it at the end stops. Check the fluid level and top up as necessary, long term this needs sorting as the rack might be leaking - I'd guess that you would need to release the rack end bellows to find if this was the problem as you have not seen any fluid leaking from anywhere else. Maybe before that take a look under the car at the front N/S as that is where the reservoir and pump assembly lives. Check along all the length of the steering fluid pipelines to see if there are any damp spots or sign of damage. I'm sure that there is no cheap and easy way to sort this one out. When you saw your mum found the reservoir empty, are you sure that she just did not find any "wettness" on the dip stick built into the cap? It might only need a very small ammount of fluid to bring it back uop to the correct level - but that would only mean that you do not have any serious leaks, which is good enough. This brings us back to "are you sure that the battery is okay and is getting charged up enough?". How much proper fluid did she need to add anyway?

 

[Fallen Angel]

Crikey, detailed response there matey, im off sick at the moment so when i see her tomorrow i shall check through this all with her, will let you know what she says
Thank you

 

[Nath.]

My guess is the power steering rack has faulty seals, the fluid has leaked past the seals and is collecting inside the rack bellows. This is why there seems to be no drips on the drive.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Right, i managed to check it all over on sunday.
Firstly, my mum can't remember if the dip stick on the reservoir cap was dry or not, she could just see there was no fluid in the reservoir and poured in about 100-150ml. She did not jack it up or anything she just quite literally topped the reservoir back up and put the cap back on.
I have checked the pipes coming from the pump etc all the way along, no damage, no sign of leaks.
I have checked the steering rack, no sign of leaks, the rubber boots are in tact and in tip top condition.

Mum has said the light has only come on once since putting more fluid in, and she has done a couple trips to Leics and back to Lincs since.

Anything else i need to check???

 

[RUM4MO]

So what did you find when you removed the cap from the fluid reservoir - was the fluid level okay on the dip stick?

 

[Nath.]

The fluid is going somewhere. pop the steering rack boots off and see if they are wet with fluid inside. The seals in the rack go and the fluid is collected in the boots, they can hold a litre or so each and not show any signs of a drip. Trust me I have replaced a rack with exactly the same probs as your mum.

If inside the boots is dry your rack is fine.

 

[Fallen Angel]

So what did you find when you removed the cap from the fluid reservoir - was the fluid level okay on the dip stick?

Fluid level had not gone down since she re-filled it

 

[Fallen Angel]

The fluid is going somewhere. pop the steering rack boots off and see if they are wet with fluid inside. The seals in the rack go and the fluid is collected in the boots, they can hold a litre or so each and not show any signs of a drip. Trust me I have replaced a rack with exactly the same probs as your mum.

If inside the boots is dry your rack is fine.

Okay, next time she is over we'll move the boots off and see whats going on, i didn't want to do that at the weekend as they've got those crimped clips around them and i couldnt find any jubilee clips to replace them with.

 

[Nath.]

^^^^^Fat cable ties.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Roger that, now i know i have some of those laying about in the shed somewhere , will let you know how i get on, thanks for the advice guys