# Power Steering Problems



## SurreyJag (Jun 15, 2006)

Hi All
I am a regular lister on the jag-Lovers Forum, being an owner of both a 1983 V12 XJS & a 1990 4.0L Sovereign. A good friend of mine has asked me to fix the power steering on her 1990 2.0L Nissan Priarie.

A couple of weeks ago her priarie started leaking Power Steering Fluid very badly from the Power Steering Pump. I removed the pump from the engine bay and discovered the pump bearing around the spindle was badly broken as well as the seal. Nissan wanted over £400 for a new pump, which my friend could not afford so we purchased from Nissan a new spindle (with bearing attached) and a seal kit for me to overhaul. 

I have fitted the new bearing/spindle and the good news is the pump is not leaking anymore. The bad news is the steering is rock hard and not working. My friend relies on this car for her work and I would appreciate your assistance in resolving this problem.

1. I may have rebuilt the pump incorrectly. After fitting the spindle/bearing to the casing I started to reinsert the inners.

A spring was the first to go in, followed by a circular 'seating'. This facing will only go in one way. On one face of this seating is the letter 'S' scribed, and this faces down. 

On top of this 'seating' goes two 'rings, an outer ring and an Inner ring. The 'Inner Ring' has I believe 8 little 'ears' that slot into grooves. I am guessing when the ring is turning, centrifugal forces force the 'ears' out to act as paddles for one reason or another. Again this 'inner ring' has an 'S' stamped on one face of it, which I have inserted face down, the same as the bottom seating.

The 'Outer Ring' can only go in one way with respect that there are two small grooves on its outer circumference which must align with two prongs on the casing cover in order to reattach the cover however they can be inserted 'face up' or 'face down'. The is no 'S' stamped on the outer ring, but there is an 'N' stamped on one of the faces as well as the number '6'. I have fitted this with the 'N' facing up, thinking it is the opposite of 'S'. Ther is also two little 'arrows' scribed on the face of the outer ring, but I don't know if they mean anything.

Have I assembled the pump correctly?, is this causing no power assistance?

2. Is it common for the power steering pipes to become blocked?, maybe a broken piece of the old bearing could be blocking the flow, is this feasible/a know problem?

3. What about an airlock/ air in system? The jags which I am experienced with self bleed, usually all is needed is to jack the car up and turn the steering wheel lock to lock six or seven times and it bleeds itself. How do you bleed the powersteering on a Nissan? 

When we took the resovoir cap off, raised the nissan, started the engine and turned the steering lock to lock. There did seem to be air in the system as the fluid bubbled in the resovoir, even overflowing from the resovoir, but even after 15 minutes the steering still remained rock hard.

So guys, I bow to your experience, is this a pump problem, a blockage problem or a bleeding problem?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Chris Jamison
London


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