Steering sluggish - new steering rack required?

[Paulzx2]

Blimey it's taken ages to be able to log back in here, had to create a new account too!

 

So my GT4 power steering has become a bit weird. When you crank the wheel over it's not too keen to try and centre itself like it would if the steering was light, so the car has a tendency to drift left or right, and the steering is generally heavier than before.

 

I had the garage fit another p/s pump but that hasn't changed the issue. The garage did say they didn't think there was anything wrong with the pump before hand, they think it's the rack. I tried the pump first just to be sure.

 

Is there any other likely culprit or am I really looking at another rack? The car has done 32,000 miles. No idea how long a rack should last but probably longer than that. Is this a case for zmanalex then?

[Ekona]

I’ll assume they changed the fluid when they changed the pump? 

Ultimately it’s a 20 year old car that’s not really been used, so sat around a lot of the time which isn’t a great thing. I’d expect a rack to last longer too, but only under normal use. 

[ZMANALEX]

Firstly, try a proper bleed of the PAS

[Paulzx2]

21 hours ago, Ekona said:

I’ll assume they changed the fluid when they changed the pump? 

Ultimately it’s a 20 year old car that’s not really been used, so sat around a lot of the time which isn’t a great thing. I’d expect a rack to last longer too, but only under normal use. 

Yep pretty sure they changed the fluid. I did think that too about it not being used much. Sometimes the car does less than 900 miles between services

[Paulzx2]

20 hours ago, ZMANALEX said:

Firstly, try a proper bleed of the PAS

Cheers Alex, I will try that. Would they not have had to belled it when they put the new pump on though?

[ZMANALEX]

Yes, they would have had to bleed the PAS hydraulic system after the NEW ? pump was fitted.

 

However, some air may still be trapped in the system.

 

Report back once you have done that for step 2 if required.

[Paulzx2]

On 17/11/2025 at 16:19, ZMANALEX said:

Yes, they would have had to bleed the PAS hydraulic system after the NEW ? pump was fitted.

 

However, some air may still be trapped in the system.

 

Report back once you have done that for step 2 if required.

Spoke to the garage today and they have said to bring the car back in for inspection of steering rack. They're confident the pump was bled when fitted, but say they will inspect the steering rack for any tell tale signs it's causing the issue, just to be sure before I start looking for one.

 

At this point I'm pretty sure it is the rack. A second P/S pump tried, and same exact result. Unless there's another possible culprit.

I should know after they look at the car on Friday.

[Paulzx2]

On 17/11/2025 at 16:19, ZMANALEX said:

Yes, they would have had to bleed the PAS hydraulic system after the NEW ? pump was fitted.

 

However, some air may still be trapped in the system.

 

Report back once you have done that for step 2 if required.

Garage inspected P/S pump and steering rack and found no obvious problems with either, not externally anyway.

I don't know if it's possible that something has gone wrong with the steering rack internally which can't be seen externally?

 

They have recommended I take it to a specialist wheel alignment place. They reckon if there is an alignment issue it could cause the weird power steering. I'm not so sure, but willing to give it a go.

 

The power steering still works, it's just very sluggish. I think we would all agree that when you crank the wheel when turning a corner, and suddenly let go, the wheel normally springs back in an attempt to centre itself. It does on every other power steering I've ever used anyway. But in my car at the moment, it doesn't do that. It may move back a bit, but it doesn't really get anywhere close to coming back to centre, you would effectively keep going the same way you cranked the wheel. It's as if the steering is in treacle! You would have to manually move the wheel back to centre position.

 

That's definitely not normal. I don't know what everyone else's Z is like but in the 10 years I've had mine, I've never felt anything wrong with the steering until now so I'm sure it's not just me being picky.