Hey folks, my Disco II (2000 w/ 127k miles) was running / behaving just fine until I parked it Friday after getting home from work. It sat all weekend in the cold (usually gets parked in garage) and when I fired it up this morning I immediately started hearing awful noises coming from the P/S pump.

I checked the fluid first thing, and it is full-- I can see the fluid swirling around in the reservoir when the motor is running.

I attributed it to being a cold engine with cold/thick fluids, but it didn't get any better (may have gotten worse) on my 35 mile drive to work.

When I accelerate around a corner (while turning), it sounds like a supercharger with some really messed up bearings. If I'm stopped, the power steering hardly works at all. It will turn smoothly for about a quarter turn, then lock up-- makes a terrible groaning noise whenever there's pressure put on the steering wheel.

What could have caused this to happen in such a short period of time? I'm a a bit mystified, because I've never had so much as a hiccup out of the power steering the entire time I've owned it until this morning. Are the symptoms I've described more likely to point to a pump issue, or the steering box? Approximate cost / difficulty of repair for the most likely (or either scenario) would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

 

Did you ever change the fluid? They go out suddenly from my experience. My Classic was good one day as I drove to work. Temp dropped 40 deg and when I went to go home it pumped all the fluid onto the asphalt. Could be the steering box is stopped up or hoses collapsed. There are rebuild kits as pumps are expensive.