Possible malfunctions of the power steering (Focus 2)

Cause of malfunction	Method of elimination
Increased steering wheel play and knocking in the steering
Violation of the tension of the rack stop spring	Adjust the spring tension
Loosening of steering gear mounting bolts	Tighten the bolts
Wear of the ball joints of the steering rods	Tighten the fastening or replace the hinges
Steering shaft cardan joint wear	Replace the driveshaft
Steering wheel is hard to turn (insufficient power steering)
Power steering pump drive belt slippage	Adjust the belt tension
Damage to the pump drive belt	Replace the belt
Insufficient working fluid level	Restore the fluid level to normal
Air entering the hydraulic system	Remove air
Kinked or damaged hoses	Remove kinks or grind hoses
Insufficient power steering pump pressure	Fix the problem or replace the pump
Increased internal leaks in the pump	Replace defective pump parts
Increased fluid leaks from the steering gear	Replace defective parts
Steering gear or distributor seals are warped or damaged	Replace the seals
Steering wheel returns to center position unclear
Violation of the tension of the rack stop spring	Adjust the spring tension
Difficulty turning the inner joints 14/or the joints of the steering rod ends	Replace the tie rod ends
Steering shaft universal joint and/or seal wear	Fix the problem or replace it
Deformation of the steering rack	Replace the steering gear
Gear bearing damage	Replace the steering gear
Re-cutting or damaging hoses	Eliminate the re-cut or replace the hoses
Damage to the pressure regulating valve	Replace the pressure regulating valve
Damage to the pump rotor shaft bearing	Replace the bearing
Noise (knocking) in the steering
Touching the hoses to the body	Route the hoses correctly
Loosening of the steering gear mount	Tighten the fastener
Looseness of the steering rods and/or ball joints of the rod ends	Tighten the fastener
Worn steering rods and/or ball joints	Replace worn parts
Increased noise from the power steering pump
Insufficient working fluid level	Restore the fluid level to normal
Air entering the hydraulic system	Remove air
Loosening of pump mounting bolts	Tighten the bolts

This article is available at russian, bulgarian, belarusian, ukrainian, serbian, croatian, romanian, polish, slovak, hungarian

Article reviewed: Mikhail Dmitriev

« Previous articles
Features of the steering design

Next articles »
Removing and installing the steering column cover
Removing and installing the steering wheel
Removing and installing the steering column
Replacing the outer tie rod end
Bleeding the power steering system

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