Rack and pinion problem?
 

I dunno where to start.... So after class one cold night i drove home. Steering felt heavy and stiff a lot more than usually. I got off the highway and discovered that when i turned the wheel it took a lot of my own strength to turn the wheel left or right equally difficult. When i gas and turn it becomes normal. I took this to the mechanic and they said it might just be the rack and pinion but they would replace the electric pump first. They did that and i've been driving it for 2 or 3 days now. Sometimes it feels normal sometimes i feel it heavy but when i park and start the car later it would change. I really dunno if its a rack and pinion problem but the mechanic said if it happens again this would be next to replace. Any input on this guys? i know its a rare problem =/

Did you check, and grease the universal joint for the steering shaft under the hood? That unit is actually a common problem. It gets gunked up, and tends to bind.

Make sure your car is cold. <-- Very important, you don't want to start a flame, or burn yourself on a hot engine.

Take some brake cleaner, spray the crap out of that joint. Wait till the brake cleaner evaporates, it should be quick. Spray the joint with white lithium grease. Start car, turn wheel a little, spray more grease. You want to get into all the crevices. Take a drive, and see if it helped.

hey slick, thanks for the response. Ill give this a try ASAP and see if this helps, Just located the joint too which is pretty deep in. I gotta figure out how to carefully spray this in the joint without touching other sensitive stuff.

try your best from the top. Use the straw attachment for the cans to reach in. You should be fine.

NYC been some crappy weather. I finally got to the car and sprayed the break cleaner on the joint and sprayed the Lithium grease on the join. Seems a little better but if i am parking the wheel still feels more tight than usually. It usually starts after a full turn or a full turn and a half. You think i should just keep spraying and see if it sinks in deeper or do you think the joint is bad?

You said that it requires a lot of your own strength to turn the wheel; decreasing effort on increasing revs.....that to me sounds more like a power steering pump issue than anything. The pump is belt driven, not electric, so Im not sure what "electric pump" your mechanic is referring to. I'd check the PS fluid level just to make sure everything there is kosher.

His English was bad i am pretty sure he replaced the pump. After he did that the steering was much better but defiantly not back to normal. After cleaning the Joint its also a lot better and smoother when driving but when i park it does get a little stiff.

Btw the fluid how much fluid should be there?

Stiffer than "normal" steering when its been outside this time of year is normal. Once the fluid does work, moves around and thus warms up it will naturally "loosen up". There's a dip stick on the underside of the PS reservoir you can check.

just did some more driving around, by stiffer than normal i actually can't turn past a full turn anymore. its was scary the first time it happened on the highway exit when i did a turn and let go of the gas it wouldn't turn anymore and i was going towards the other side of the lane. After the visit to the garage he said he got a new pump but to him it felt a little stiff too, told me to drive and see if it happens again. Cleaning the joint seem to help. I actually just found another thread on a different forums dealing with this maybe. stiff / hard steering, specially at low speed or stopped - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum I am not sure what to make of it =/ either pump or that joint. not the rack i hope

Thanks for your inputs btw i am willing to try anything logical people throw at me lol