Steering gets heavy when the A/C is switched on?. 

Anyone know why this could be?.

 

The rack is new.

Fluid is full.

No lights on dash.

Steering feel is consistent lock to lock.

A/C is fully charged.

Accessory belt is new.

 

Any ideas on when to look at would be appreciated.

 

 

Does the battery light come on with ignition?

 

17 minutes ago, Wino said:

Does the battery light come on with ignition?

 

Yeh comes on then goes out when engine is started.

 

I haven't checked battery voltage yet.

Measure that before and after starting the engine, right between battery posts ideally.

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Measure that before and after starting the engine, right between battery posts ideally.

Ill do that after work and report the voltage.

Battery voltage is 

Cold 12.3v

Ingnition 12.1v
Engine running 14.3v

Engine running figure is fine, others a bit on the low side. Do you have a battery charger you could stick on it for a few hours to give it a top-up?

Yeh i do have one. The battery is few years old. Is the P/S pump sensitive to battery voltage?.

Problems with the PAS system do seem to correlate with battery state of charge issues. When 'busy' the pump can draw several tens of amps.

Try charging the battery for a few hours and see if symptoms change?

 

The rad fans also take a fair chunk of current (and are activated when A/C is on), as does the cabin fan on higher settings, so it all tends to depress the system voltage.

Edited 30 July, 20205 yr by Wino

Yeh ill give it a charge. Ill check voltage with A/C and blower fan on also.

Voltage goes down to 13.8v with A/C on, blower fan on 2.

 

Goes to 12.9v with A/C on, blower on 2, steering wheel turned 30 degrees, car stationary.

 

Get a bunch of Amphours of charge into the battery and those figures will improve, which can only help.

Charged the battery for 10 hours, "battery full" light never turned on, on the charger. 

 

Voltage is not much better. Looks like new battery is on the parts list.