dm222

Great

I tried with the wheels in the ground but I feel its not the same thing. Already have the material, it was cheap and it will be usefull in the future because during this processes I learned that I do a better job than most mechanics and I'm learning a lot. Some people say "If you want the job well do it yourself" and its true.

Bought something to jack the car last saturday, will do that but right at that time the steering got lighter, if it gets heavier again it will bebthe first thing I do.I asked a mechanic to do it but he didnt because he said its self bleeding. I'm doing all the things myself now.

Is it normal for the pump to draw 90A at the start?

My steering turned lighter this week, I changed the oil again last saturday, don't know if it's related. So I did another log, and everything is the same but at the start the pump drawed 90A, I am worried.

In this case I don't think it will make a difference... In the future is always something usefull... One good way to find out that the pump is not working is if you steering is extra hard like seems to be your case. Another simple test you can do is start the car at idle open the bonnet and try to hear the pump working, you should be able to ear it working if it's good. There:

same as me.

If it was the sensor the pump would still work but the steering would be harder, that's why I asked if he needed the two hands.

Then it looks like you need a new pump. Can also be caused by a bad battery / connections I guess that driving the car for so long without PAS could damage the rack pinion?

How hard is your steering? Can you drive it with only one hand or it is hard to the point that you need both hands at maximum force?

That's not why it worked for 5 seconds, this system is totally random when it fails, sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt.

I would try to change the sensor

Hi, Just some updates. Replaced: - Battery postitive cable (used). - Fusebox (because the plastic was damaged in a battery change last year and it was not secure, I changed the whole thing). - Oil to OEM oil. Without results, so I don't know what to do anymore.

It's not possible to separate. You need to replace the whole thing. There are two versions the other one you can remove the cable but this one is all one part, you have to buy an identical to the one you have as they are not compatible between them. Good point, this stuf:

Can be either the sensor or the pump, I would replace first the sensor since it's cheaper, easier to change and seems that removing it and installing it again changed your symptoms. There is no way to know what it causing the problem without vcds and even with vcds in this particular case most errors can be caused by the sensor or the pump for example I had this errors and the problem was the pump but they can also happen if the sensor is bad: 00816 - Power Steering Sensor (G250): Short to Ground 00816 - Power Steering Sensor (G250): Faulty My symptoms were like yours, but in my case sometimes all assistance was gone others it was just heavier like in your case, and eventually after some miles all the assistance was gone for good. Just an advice, at this times we have a tendency to start and stop the car many times in a row, I would not do that, from my experience it's a bad idea. Wait between starts.

From what you are describing it's either the sensor/sensor cable or something inside the pump that's it's not working properly causing bad communication with the sensor. I can't understand how water gets inside the sensor...

How much do you usually tighten the battery clamps using this? I usually tigth it untill the clamps don't move. I'm afraid of doing to much or to little.

Replaced the battery clamp today, without sucess. Hope the OEM oil arrives tomorow.

Do you know if there is anything that could affect power steering and braking pedal hardness at the same time?

While i'm waiting for the parts, noticed today something I already suspected. When the steering gets harder so does the brake pedal, what is the correlation between them?

The problem is not the bolt, its the clamp or the battery deformed. Ordered a new cable maybe I will replaced it this week if it atraves. Since all this started just 2 months after a battery change its a possibility its worth check.

My positive clamp:

That looks good, no or little corrosion on that location, and seems to be well tight, but I believe messing around the positive terminal of the battery affects steering hardness, wich explains why everytime I go to the garage the steering comes back lighter but progressbly gets heavier. It also explains why all this nightmare started (first pump burned) less than 2 months after the original battery was replaced (VARTA 60Ah), wich I replaced again under waranty because at the time i thought it was the battery, it wasn't. Also explains why steering is lighter when cold (alternator probably is generating more energy, but when it stops producing so much energy the battery can't draw enough power to the pump) I believe I need a new positive clamp. I wish it was easier, It comes with all the wiring to the alternator, starter, AC etc attached to it :S For now I just changed the screw from the positive to the negative because the positive one was a little worn out. It had a point where it was impossible to screw it, it just rotated with no effect.

Will check that, but I didn't touch that and it improved a lot, I also dismounted and used sand paper in the battery fusebox connections so could be that too.

Maybe I need new clamps, steering is a lot lighter since i did this, pretty sure the cause in there somewhere. The positive one seems to be a bit loose I had to screw it a lot more than the negative.