hi guys your genius is required again.
i have a 00 jdm bugeye and am getting a very strange problem with the steering that i cant find an answer to on the net. round town no probs BUT if i go on a motorway (which i do a lot) after say 40-50 miles of m'way driving if i pull over to say a service station if i turn the wheel more than 90 degrees or more i get a clunking kinda like a flat tyre is the best way i can describe it, er... like a dum dum dum dum (say dum out loud lol) very loud and embarrassing. when the car cools down a bit it goes away. im thinking perhaps my pas pump is on its way out maybe or its heating up and slightly failing but honestly i havent a clue! any ideas would be appreciated! cheers

 

Could be the steering rack mate

 

that thought did cross my mind its going in next week for a full fluids change oil gearbox etc.. so ill have em look was just hoping for some ideas to throw at em. strange how its only when its hot though?

 

Have a quick check of the belt. Although I would expect it to play up when cold.

 

reading the foriums on steering racks seems likely thats the culprit somewhere, will have it checked next week more money down the swanee cant believe it. gutted

 

checked the belt but is nice and tight can just about turn it 90 degrees. ill have scoobyspares check it next week :-(

 

Try changing the p/s fluid. Probably had never been changed. Just like other oils its breaks down. A.change may cure your problem

 

I like the sound of that Turbo finally possibly a cheap fix! Lol

 

Update... drove about 3=4 miles today and started doing it again so its getting worse :-( really embarrassing, I'm going to the garage tomoz so I'll update tommorow with what they say

 

Update.. its booked in Wednesday for all fluid changes oil diff gear pas brake etc so they're gonna look at it while they're at it, Scott suggested gearbox on oil though can't see how tat would affect steering and Andy suggested couple of broken teeth on driveshaft. Um don't get it but will let you know how I get on

 

Still think I could be the rack mate coz my old golf did it

 

Update. Had all fluids changed and steering is definately lighter in fact too light its gone quite twitch. So gonna have four wheel align done. Haven't been on long drive yet to see if its still doing it so will update when I know more

 

update. been off net for a while. ok so changed all fluids.... no good. 4 wheel alignment....no good.new pas pump and belt ...... no good. so long story short having new rack done this week lol. should have gone with my gut feeling to begin with lol

 

update:: steering rack not done they had it up and checked the living s**t out of it and simply cant find anything wrong! so i took it out for a spirited run lol took it back and it was doing the clunking. they thought it was the centre diff buy he wasnt sure so they called api performance and they said yes it sounds like the centre diff!!! gutted. been reading the posts on centre failures (mostly in america funnily enough) and sounds spot on. so somehow gotta find a bucket load of money to fix it....... wife not happy :-(

 

Final update just in case anyone's still interested lol......
neil and scott at scoobyspares in fleetwood took out my gearbox and sent it off to api performance in coventry. it was the bearings in the centre diff were worn. they replaced the unit and neil put it back in. all fixed!!!!!!!!!!! when i was researching this on the net its very common in america and my cars a jdm so perhaps its a common fault on imports. cost a fortune and wife not happy but i am so bugger it!! lmao

 

Good result faults like that drive you nuts, until you get to the bottom of it.