power steering issue

[ejhiggins]

i've had trouble for the past year with the power steering in my 540, the first issue was a hard steering wheel as soon as the weather turned cold and and also the steering wheel wouldn't return to the center,the second issue were leaking hoses,this past week i replaced the hoses,pump and flushed the system with fresh fluid, the hard steering is better but not as i think it should be and the wheel returning to the center is better also but it takes a little effort to get back to the center,there is a direct connection between this two issues and the weather being cold when the temp is above 80 the steering works better , is there anything else i should look at or replace?

[Kalevera]

When was the last time the car had an alignment?

Also, was the correct fluid used (believe it's CHF 11s on the 540 off the top of my head).

Does the car have a solenoid on the steering box (servotronic?)?


best, whit

[ejhiggins]

about a year ago, and i used chf 11 fluid

[IN10CT]

I'm having the exact same problem on my '89 535. I've replaced the power steering fluid (ATF for mine) which helped somewhat but not a complete fix. Noticed that the hoses are slightly wet but no drips.

Steering is much lighter, but return to center still not right. Kinda freaky when you release the wheel to let it spin back to center and nothing happens!

This definately seems tied to cold weather (near or below freezing).

Anyone else with ideas on this?

[tonyvt328is]

I'm having the exact same problem on my '89 535. I've replaced the power steering fluid (ATF for mine) which helped somewhat but not a complete fix. Noticed that the hoses are slightly wet but no drips.

Steering is much lighter, but return to center still not right. Kinda freaky when you release the wheel to let it spin back to center and nothing happens!

This definately seems tied to cold weather (near or below freezing).

Anyone else with ideas on this?

Help me too! Mine is so tight now that its cold it steers like a truck. Shop flushed but it still is...used ATF
Help!!!!!

[Kalevera]

There is an adjustment screw on the top of the steering box that varies contact pressure between the box's gears. People tend to fuss with that screw, thinking that it will remove (inherent) slack in the steering, but what it actually does is make the steering wheel harder to turn. And, because the contact pressure is not constant through the box's motion (tighter in center to keep the car on a straight line), jacking it up means that there is a point at which the wheel will not return to center on its own.

So, if someone's "adjusted" the box, unadjust it.

There's also the nut behind the steering wheel, but, that's a whole other topic for someone else to share.