steering issue please help

[plugy]

Hi everyone,

I have a strange steering issue with my phase 3 306 2.0 16v petrol.

the issue is it had been stood for a few months over the xmas period and when i came to use it i found the steering began to effectively seize up after a few minutes of driving.. from cold it was fine but became dangerous after a few minutes. 

imagine parking up against a kerb with the left wheel and as you began to apply left hand lock the wheel hit the kerb and you continued to try steering into the kerb... thats how it feels. 

so far we have done....

steering pump (reconditioned from my car)
power steering rack (again recon'd )
all hoses are fine
steering fluid and bleed
new upper suspension mounts both sides
new track rod ends
new dampers as the old ones were fubbard

it isnt quite as bad it was before the above was done but you can still tell it is fighting the engine speed. 
the idle does drop from around 1k to 800 when steering if holding the throttle open at say 2k rpm and steering the action of steering drops the engine speed down to 1500rpm..

can anyone help as i love this car but im seriously thinking of just calling it a day with it....

thanks in advance

rob

[Mattcheese31]

Sounds like a problem with the aux belt, is it all running straight and tensioner properly?

[plugy]

Not entirely sure fella the belt doesnt squeel although you can hear the steering pump struggle as the engine revs are raised and struggles when the steering is stiff.. could be caused by the aux belt or pulley or something?

[Mattcheese31]

Not entirely sure fella the belt doesnt squeel although you can hear the steering pump struggle as the engine revs are raised and struggles when the steering is stiff.. could be caused by the aux belt or pulley or something?

deffo worth a look if you've checked all that other stuff

[plugy]

Thanks for the help guys this is hugely appreciated!! 

I will keep the uj in mind and should ths aux belt not ve the issue the uj will be next. 

I've had the wheel off and arch liner and taken a good look and found the aux belt has been rubbing on the cambelt cover no big issue in itself.. started it up and sure enough it sounded like a diesel. 

So slipped the belt off, the aux belt tensioner pulley bearings are rattling and also has side to side play so will he been throwing the belt about i imagine. Also removed the crank pulley. Cant see anything visually wrong with it as such except a small section of the grooves for the belt appeared to have been flatten slightly (along the running edge that grips the belt). 
Head back in the arch and looking at the camshaft sprocket i did find a small piece of the block appeares to have taken a hit at some point and sometime recently as there was a small piece of alloy that came away with the touch of my finger end. Again no big issue as ot wont affect anything and wasnt a big knock whatever had caused it. 

Does this sound like it could be the culprit? Lol. 

Now... wheres the best place to get a new belt, pulley and tensioner?. 
Ive used gsf succesfully for the past few years using a promo code with 40% off. Pulley is 108 quid knocks it down to 65. 
Could anyone help me out to save a few quid?

Thanks in advance!
Rob

[Mattcheese31]

WKD55 is 55% off at GSF this weekend

[plugy]

Nice one thanks fella
Btw forum40 works all the time .

Reckon this was the cause then?