Vauxhaul Meriva 11 Reg Power Steering

ma9gm

Hey,

Recently we've been noticing that our power steering has been feeling a bit heavy (still working just needs 2 hands rather than just the one!). Then last week when you turned it full in one direction, it started to make a funny groaning noise from under the dash board. It all still works, and there isn't any error codes.

Do I wait until the error codes start to appear or should I take it in? Or is that just normal for cold weather? Or does it need some adjusting/servicing thing done to it?

I fear it's going to be near £800 to fix, and that money is hard to come by this time of year!!

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Scrapit

Sounds like the resovoir will need topping up. Don't worry about error codes, get hands on and dip the tank see if you need some more atf. If you do top it up and then start to look for the leak

ma9gm

Scrapit wrote: »

Sounds like the resovoir will need topping up. Don't worry about error codes, get hands on and dip the tank see if you need some more atf. If you do top it up and then start to look for the leak

Hi, that's really helpful. I've been struggling to find where the resovoir is within the engine. The handbook seems particularly silent on the matter also! Any ideas where I might find it?

Car_54

ma9gm wrote: »

Hi, that's really helpful. I've been struggling to find where the resovoir is within the engine. The handbook seems particularly silent on the matter also! Any ideas where I might find it?

You won't find a reservoir - it's an electrical system, not hydraulic.


I used to have a Meriva, and this is a notoriously common problem. You need to get it attended to before it fails completely.

ma9gm

Car_54 wrote: »

You won't find a reservoir - it's an electrical system, not hydraulic.


I used to have a Meriva, and this is a notoriously common problem. You need to get it attended to before it fails completely.

Hi, Thank you for this. That explains why the manual is silent on the matter! Going a google search (I know is a very bad thing to do). It suggests the Torque Position Sensor might need replacing. Is it worth just getting that big replaced or will most places insist on replacing the whole column? The sensor seems significantly cheaper than the whole column!

Car_54

ma9gm wrote: »

Hi, Thank you for this. That explains why the manual is silent on the matter! Going a google search (I know is a very bad thing to do). It suggests the Torque Position Sensor might need replacing. Is it worth just getting that big replaced or will most places insist on replacing the whole column? The sensor seems significantly cheaper than the whole column!

I'm not a mechanic (and clearly neither are you!) so I don't know. I would be inclined to let the experts sort it out. If they simply replace the part(s) you ask them to, you will have no comeback if it doesn't solve the problem.

FWIW, when I had Vauxhalls, I was pleasantly surprised to fnd the local main dealers were very competitive on price against the independents.

ma9gm

Car_54 wrote: »

I'm not a mechanic (and clearly neither are you!) so I don't know. I would be inclined to let the experts sort it out. If they simply replace the part(s) you ask them to, you will have no comeback if it doesn't solve the problem.

FWIW, when I had Vauxhalls, I was pleasantly surprised to fnd the local main dealers were very competitive on price against the independents.

Yeah, I'm not a mechanic. I think I'd always assumed a Vauxhaul dealer was going to be really expensive compared to an independent!

That's a very good point about having no comeback. Best to leave it to those who know what they're doing.

Goudy

EPAS or Electric Power Steering systems are very power hungry and require a good voltage from the battery.

Before condemning any expensive parts, have the battery and charging system checked first, in fact, if the battery is over 5 anyway, I would replace it first anyway.

It's the time of year that any battery or charging system weakness starts to become apparent and the load on even a fairly healthy battery is increased with heated windows, lights on constantly, heater fans blowing to the max.

ma9gm

Goudy wrote: »

EPAS or Electric Power Steering systems are very power hungry and require a good voltage from the battery.

Before condemning any expensive parts, have the battery and charging system checked first, in fact, if the battery is over 5 anyway, I would replace it first anyway.

It's the time of year that any battery or charging system weakness starts to become apparent and the load on even a fairly healthy battery is increased with heated windows, lights on constantly, heater fans blowing to the max.

This is really helpful. Thank you. I had the battery replaced about 6 months ago as it was causing problems with the electric windows and about 100 error codes! Hopefully it is the battery and I can get that replaced easily enough! Thank you for your help

ma9gm

I popped it into a garage and they said they'd look at it. I'm a bit confused... they said they sorted it out for us. They said they cleaned out the system and topped up the fluid and it's all sorted now. But I didn't think it had any fluid? Are they trying to pull a fast one?

oldagetraveller

ma9gm wrote: »

I popped it into a garage and they said they'd look at it. I'm a bit confused... they said they sorted it out for us. They said they cleaned out the system and topped up the fluid and it's all sorted now. But I didn't think it had any fluid? Are they trying to pull a fast one?

They're pulling your plonker. It is an electric motor assist on the steering column, module controlled.

In the earlier cars it was a torque sensorfault and required the whole column replacement. I would have thought they would have "fixed" the problem by 2011?
I had an earlier year Meriva, so did my daughter and the sensor failed on both cars. Vauxhall eventually acknowledged a fault and paid out to all those who forked out for a new column outside warranty.
Has there been any warning lights yet? EPS in amber/yellow on the speedometer (sorry, you say there aren't).
There was also a common steering rack factory lubrication problem too, on some cars. Leading to an eventual "groaning" noise from the steering at low speeds. My car suffered that too and again under warranty, a new properly lubricated rack was fitted.
As has been said, a weak/low charge state battery can produce the same symptoms. Not sure about the groaning noise though!