Power Steering Problems

[timbob]

Having a few issues with the power steering pump on my 106gti. It'll work sometimes perfectly fine, but every so often it hardens up - you can feel the amount of assistance changing through the wheel, very strange. Give the pump a clout, and it springs back into life for a certain amount of time.

I'm away from home at the moment, but can get a cheapish 2nd hand pump delivered there for next week, but in the meantime I want to disable the power steering.

Am I right in thinking that if I unplug the wiring to the (electric - not aux belt driven) PAS pump, then undo the hoses and drain the fluid out of the steering rack by turning lock to lock a few times, the car will drive as though it didn't have PAS at all.

I know it might be a touch heavier than a car designed not to have PAS at all, but that's fine, I'd rather not be wondering whether the steering will lock solid as I enter every corner!

 

[Entai]

My only experience of anything like this would make me not want to do it ever again.
I once drove a Renault Clio where the electric PAS pump had packed up and OMG the steering was so heavy, only drove it about five miles but my arms ached like mad for a good couple of days afterwards. At speed it was bad enough but low speed manouvering was just hell.
If you do try this you must remember to leave plenty of time for any kind of manouvere as it will take much much longer to put any amount of steering lock on.

 

[Puppetmaster]

when i moved my car when the clutch had gone (106 1.1) with my dad and bro pushing, i found my arms acheing from doing hardly anything, would really hate to drive like that.

 

[timbob]

That's why I want to drain the fluid out the rack, with the pump packed up, you're turning the wheel against the hydraulic pressure of the system - hence it being impossible to ture. That's how it sometimes is at the moment.

I think the theory goes that if you disconnect the pump and drain the fluid, it just works like an old school car with no power steering - slightly heavy at parking speeds, and fine once on the move, just like my old cars.

I just wanted somebody more knowledgeable than me to confirm that it would actually work, and I wouldn't knacker my steering rack or anything by draining the power steering fluid out of it. Anyone?

 

[Firestar_3x]

Getting rid of the fluid would mean your no longer working against that to turn the rack but i don't think it would go back to a normal rack, it might be still quite undrivable.