folks - about a week ago, i noticed that steering seems to take more work than it used to. first i reinflated the front tires, which made no change. soon after, i had a scary moment pulling onto the street - turning the steering wheel briefly seemed to do nothing, as if (i imagined) splines had broken off the column; but it still works. today exiting a parking space i heard a nasty scraping sound as i first moved the wheel; but it still works. i tightened the PS belt and checked that there's fluid circulating, all seems OK, i'm not sure where the noises came from. what could be going on, that the PS pump or steering box act up like that after a cold(ish) start?

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

When was the last time the power steering fluid and filter were changed?

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

great point, an obstructed filter seems logical. the engine went in only about 2500 miles ago so the fluid must be that old. however, i don't think they changed the filter. i just drained the box and changed the filter this morning - the old one was predictably nasty. it all went smoothly except that instead of a nominal 1.4 liters, i only got about .9 liters of fresh fluid into the system. when i turned the engine on, a bloom of creamy pink appeared in the pump reservoir, quickly mixing all around, so that it looked like a frothy strawberry-banana milkshake. does it seem like i should drain it again towards the goal of nice transparent fluid? i'll report back later as to any change in steering performance.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

The milky is just air in the system. It won't hurt to suck out the reservoir again and refill.

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What Would Rudolph Do?
1975 300D, 1975 240D, 1985 300SD, 1997 300D, 2005 E320 , 2006 Toyota Prius

thanks biopete. i'll take a look again later and see if the creaminess has dissipated.

what a difference! steering is crisper again!

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

Have you, sitting still with the engine running, turned the steering wheel lock to lock several times? That is how you make the system "bleed" itself.

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

not with the drain plug out. i did the lock-to-lock while draining with the engine off. this was with no helper, and given the warnings i read about letting the pump run dry, i didn't want to use the engine to drain it. i bet more would have come out that way though.

as it was i got a big air bubble come up in the damn pump when i cranked it during refilling, which sent a nice splash of PS fluid all over the side of the engine bay....

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

Well the pump not running, it wouldn't do anything.

I didn't suggest you try to bleed it to drain it, I suggested you bleed it to make it work better.

Start the car, turn lock to lock to lock to lock........ then return to center with the car running, check level, if its gone down, top off, and repeat.

You need to have the lid on when you're going lock to lock as the level will rise and fall.

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

thanks, i wasn't aware of any meaning of "bleed" other than "to remove". i did what you suggested and there was no change in the level, so it was already full.

after driving around a bit steering became too hard again - it doesn't want to return to center. i checked the recently installed filter and it's quite clean. as far as i can tell, the steering fluid is circulating and clean. i guess the pump could have gone south, or else it needs adjusting. i read document 46-480 but i don't really understand what the (rather complicated) procedure is meant to adjust. any thoughts, folks?

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

Ball joints?

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'84 190D 2.2 5MT (Red/Palomino) Current car. Love it!
'85 190D 2.2 Auto *Cali* (Blue/Blue) *sold*
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another good idea. ball joints have never been replaced (during my tenure anyway). how can i verify that they are bad?

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

My steering was very stiff on my 1993 190d until I replaced the ball joints in December, massive difference. It was so bad before replacement that the steering would not center itself after a turn. Turns out only one joint was "really bad" and the other was worn but not rusty. Amazing how much resistance a bad joint can cause!

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Here's a nice way of learning that job

Videos of a w123 in need of a suspension rebuild

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I've had no trouble what so ever with bleeding the system without the engine running. I either lift the front wheel off the ground or stick them on slip plates. Fast turning of the steering wheel from lock to lock a few times does the job.

{Method used with success on W123 and W201!}

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Slippage in the system seems like a mechanical problem. I'd look at the ball joints and tie rods for play and or rust. I'd also look in the ps gearbox. I don't think it would be in the ps pump.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.