Possibly a poor description, but lately my 2008 accord diesel (European version) steering has been feeling a bit off. Seems to be only when turning to the left either when turning hard at a roundabout or at speed on an autopista.

There seems to be an additional whine coming from the engine. Not sure if related.

Car has done nearly 100,000 km and is manual.

I've had a look and the PS fluid level is just short of Max.

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks all.

 

We don't have the diesel's here in the US but I can't think of why the PS system would be much different.

Start the car and turn the wheels back and forth as you watch the fluid in the res. Does the fluid start to "foam" up?

Where I'm going - this sounds like a leak in the system. Allowing air to be sucked into the system, creating the foam and air in the fluid. Since air will compress then you loose the pressure/assistance of the fluid when turning.....like having air in the brake system.

 

Hi poorman,

Thanks for your help.

I tried as suggested but see no foam. I could see the fluid level stirring about but nothing more. With my head under the hood I was surprised by how noisy the belt next to the reservoir was when turning the steering.

BTW, if there was a leak then surely the fluid level would be down, or would air make up the difference?

 

If there was a leak, the level would keep dropping.
If air were being sucked in, the fluid would get foamy.

Noisy when you turn the steering wheel? How about an old belt that's slipping? They can get old & slippery, even though they don't always LOOK bad.

Since we don't get the diesel, I don't know what it is.... Is there one serpentine belt to drive all the external accessories? With a spring-loaded tensioner? If there's a hard tensioner/idler pulley, maybe the belt is just loose?

Or maybe the pump itself is getting noisy - getting ready to fail?

 

I guess the belt is the most likely culprit. There is just one.

I have the car booked in next week to change a xenon headlight(nearly 200 euros thanks very much) so will get the dealer to sort this. Pity I can't get this right now, we have a 1400km trip tomorrow (western France to eastern Spain) and I'd prefer not to be concerned about the steering.

Thanks for all your help. Great forum!

 

Wow, ya'll really need some part stores over there. HID bulbs do cost a bit and my "exchange rate" may be way off but that is expensive.

 

There is only on official concession in Barcelona so I guess they can charge what they want. A mate has a BMW 330i and he pays less than me for official servicing with the local BMW dealer.

Sucks.