ST170 heavy steering when cold
 

As title really, for the first mile or so there's heavy resistance at the top when turning right but once its had a bit of use its fine. Its the mrs' car and i've been driving it lately - apparently its been doing it a while:wall:

Is the pump on its way out or is it just the fluid breaking down?

Any help appreciated

I'd try some wynns power steering system stop leak, this is also a reconditioner of the seals, and from personal use can tell you it works very well, esp in sluggish auto boxes that lose drive.
tabetha

I've changed a rack on a st170 had a simlar prob to yours it was tight to turn one just past center one way, was all good after it was changed also done a lot of mondeos.

Thanks for the recommendation. Theres no obvious signs of a leak but the fluid is just above the minimum when cold

Were they doing it all the time though? This stops once its been worked for a mile or 2 and is fine until next morning or if its left for quite a few hours.

Its not the valve in the pas pump getting stuck is it.I had a similar fault on a tranny van at work the other day.Its was as if there was no pas at all,then all of a sudden it started working.

i had the same problem in my diesel van, just changed the power steering fluid
as over the years had become contaminated and just crap looking.
has been fine ever since....

I cant remember now, this sort of had a heavy/ stiff patch just right from center, so made it hard to mark small corrections on a straight road if you know what i mean.
If yours is heavy all the way from lock to lock it mite not be the same thing, also its easy to pop off the uj's where they go onto the rack inside the footwell i did this just to check them first. not that they normal gave trouble like sierras because they are inside the car.

Mine does that, its just the first 30deg or so but it disappears once warm.

Will replace the fluid as a starting point as its on minimum and looks pretty shitty.

The ST's sprint to 60mph takes just over six seconds and a top speed in the region of 150mph will be more than adequate. Wet traction off the line isn't the greatest but lateral grip is superb. The Volvo-sourced powerplant serves up a big slug of torque between 1,700 and 6,750rpm. It's this driveability that makes the Focus ST such a formidable weapon.
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