Hi,

We have a 2003 Land Rover Discovery II that seems to have had hard steering issues for a while and it is now getting quite hard to steer while parking.

We took it to a mechanic, and after an initial assessment, they decided to replace the steering pump. A new pump did not replace the issue, thinking the new steering pump was defective they installed yet another steering pump and together with checking all the hoses and filters (and fluids) they found nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, they were unable to repair this hard steering issue and they lost plenty of time and revenue working on it.

We are picking up the vehicle today with the same original pump we had and with this issue unresolved. Knowing that the current (or any of the two new pumps) solved the hard steering issue, what should we look into? The mechanic is telling me that we should check at replacing the steering box but that they do not want to commit to replacing it as they do not want to spend more time on this vehicle as replacing this part may not solve the issue either.

Any suggestions? do you guys think the dealer will be able to solve this?

Thanks in advance for any guidance at this point.

macutan

 

I am sure a dealership can fix it for a small fortune; three pumps and the same issue sure points to the steering box. I have never replaced one, but it is in a bad location to fiddle with, for sure.

 

don't eliminate tyres - i swapped mine front to back recently as a last ditch attempt to resolve handling issues and noticed a big difference! - wierd and unpredictable but my D2 is much better now. Worth a try?

 

Is your mechanic a LR specialist? Asking because it is imperative to use LR ACE Fluid in the power steering system, and if your mech did not you could still be getting notchy steering with a new pump. Worth checking out.

Also possible, but far less likely, that you have several bad steering pumps in a row especially if your shop is sourcing them from the same vendor.

 

How "hard" is the hard steering? I recently did an alignment on mine, a few days after replacing the track rod. I was immediately (as in when turning the wheel after backing off the alignment rack) amazed at how much easier it was to steer after changing total toe from .14 degrees positive to the preferred specification .165 degrees negative.

 

Numerous front end components can affect steering smoothness.

As previously mentioned...check alignment. However, for it to have changed...normally that means one or more of the involved components have wornout or been damaged.

Bad/dry ball joints can add enough resistance to force extra effort from the pump and your own effort. Especially, if the vehicle has been sitting for a long period of time.

A CV axle shaft gone bad will add resistance, too. Normally, you will hear a slight popping noise though.

Gearbox could also be bad.

Check steering shaft joint, also.

Best way to eliminate some areas would be...jack up the front end...disconnect the track bar at both ends and drag-link from passenger side spider...then move each wheel through its full range of motion (right to left) and feel for any type of excessive resistance. You should be able to move each wheel without much effort.

Then, with everything still disconnected, turn steering wheel and assess amount of effort needed, then start engine and do the same. There should be quite a difference between the two. If there is no difference, and all other components check out okay...I'd then lean towards the gearbox as the issue.

Good luck,

Brian.

 

Have you tried steering with the front wheels off the ground? This would help identify whether you're lacking boost (steer easily with no ground resistance) or binding somewhere (still have a hard time moving while off the ground).

If it steers like a dream off the ground, I'd look at the hoses. The hoses can fail internally, blocking flow and causing the pressure to bypass in the pump. Same result for both hoses. You can confirm good flow by observing flow returning to the reservoir. If you're getting good back to the reservoir, you're getting boost.

If it's still binding with the wheels in the air, I'd be looking at the tension/play adjustment on the steering box. It's possible that someone got over-zealous and tightened it too much to compensate for worn steering gears. Beyond that, you'll be chasing a rare failure like seized steering shaft bearing, etc.