Power steering failure

[WhisperingWasp]

Guys,

Driving home yesterday and my power steering failed (bit of a concern mid-corner!).

Could this be as simple as a fuse or something or am I looking at a big fix?

Cheers

[gmac90]

Best thing to do is start with the simple stuff first fuses etc and then work from there

[Martin F]

The relay is a known issue, try turning your ignition on and off a dozen times, may well free it up, failing that give the relay contacts a clean and then take things from there

[WhisperingWasp]

Thanks fellas, key trick did the job

[wenguin]

Is the relay the little 'jar' with the connectors at the top?

[benjo]

My relay does this once a year for the past 8 years
Key trick every time

[tiff_lee]

Wish my power steering woes were this simple! I got a pump that whirs its head off and a rack that leaks fluid like a sieve

[benjo]

Just had my rack reconditioned through Andrew page £160 top job

[WhisperingWasp]

Well that "fix" didn't last long. I'll give it a good minute of on/off tomorrow but fear anything I do will be temporary.

I've read that you can clean the connectors in the relay (?). Can anyone point me towards where that would be/what it looks like? Is it as per above?

Thanks all.

[twig]

Mine does this every year, about this time of year. Maybe it's something to do with the cold. Most years I bodge it by wiring the two connectors on the top of the relay to the same terminal. After a bit of searching I found it's not actually very difficult to just replace the relay with a standard-looking black one - info here from the US: http://www.mr2oc.com/showthread.php?t=355400

I used this:
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/non-latch ... 3539343826

But I think this one might have been OK too, and possibly easier to mount:
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/non-latch ... s/8113097/

Then it's just a case of clipping the connectors off, crimping on some new ones to fit the relay, and finding somewhere to mount the relay. It's been totally fine for the last couple of weeks.

[tiff_lee]

Mine does this every year, about this time of year. Maybe it's something to do with the cold. Most years I bodge it by wiring the two connectors on the top of the relay to the same terminal. After a bit of searching I found it's not actually very difficult to just replace the relay with a standard-looking black one - info here from the US: http://www.mr2oc.com/showthread.php?t=355400

I used this:
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/non-latch ... 3539343826

But I think this one might have been OK too, and possibly easier to mount:
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/non-latch ... s/8113097/

Then it's just a case of clipping the connectors off, crimping on some new ones to fit the relay, and finding somewhere to mount the relay. It's been totally fine for the last couple of weeks.

Good idea, alot of car manufacturers use bespoke relays when it isn't really necessary. Just another revenue generator in parts.

[twig]

I agree. What I really don't get is why is the original relay fixed on rubber mounts?