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[Kevin Wood]

Here is a pic of the little bugger by the way.....I had one in the garage.

They're making a tidy profit on those at 105+VAT  

Just a microcontroller and a power MOSFET to PWM the valve in the steering box I guess?

Kevin

[bigdods]

I will be*very* interested to hear the answer because I have almost identical symptoms, have done for the last year. New tyres, wishbones and full geo setup have failed to solve it....

ETA TheBoy , I may have to pop round to you and have you set mine to min assist and see if that solves my problem !

[Marks DTM Calib]

Here is a pic of the little bugger by the way.....I had one in the garage.

They're making a tidy profit on those at 105+VAT  

Just a microcontroller and a power MOSFET to PWM the valve in the steering box I guess?

Kevin

Yep......I would guess at about 3-4 quid for bits so maybe a tenner assembled in volume.

Its a bog basic microcontroller (freescale/motorola OE38B) with an I2C device (93LC46 - Microchip), a comparator (LM2903) and a PNP transistor ( A1244)....plus a few minor passives etc

[Andy B]

I wonder what difference unplugging it makes?  :-/

[Marks DTM Calib]

I wonder what difference unplugging it makes?  :-/

We already know that........heavy steering same as when the fuse blows

[Andy B]

I wonder what difference unplugging it makes?  :-/

We already know that........heavy steering same as when the fuse blows

Is that the same as least assistance?

[bigdods]

TheBoy YHM :-)

[Marks DTM Calib]

I wonder what difference unplugging it makes?  :-/

We already know that........heavy steering same as when the fuse blows

Is that the same as least assistance?

I suspect zero assistance......having driven a car with no engine (on tow) for 60+miles).....

Pretty sure the servotronic will not totaly turn off the assistance.

[Andy B]

.....
Pretty sure the servotronic will not totaly turn off the assistance.

That is hard work ... been there too.
I also had the 'fan belt' break on my diseasal Astra mid roundabout. Must be cos the alternator isn't running, the electric pump stops and that's hard work steering too.

[bigdods]

Thanks to TheBoy for re-programming my power steering this afternoon (and the other bits you helped with too, yes I am a lazy bugger !)

The result of changing it to least assistance is that the problem hasnt totally disappeared but I reckon its about 80% improved  . Still seems to have full assistance at low speed but weights up more once on the move. Where before I was having to make constant corrections moving the steering wheel maybe an inch either way (while going in a straight line) its now only the occasional correction and maybe only half as much movement of the wheel. It also seems to corner in a much more linear way now I can follow a curve without major corrections !

So steering idler is on the cards next to see if I can totally eliminate it.

Cheers !

[sophos9]

Good to hear you got it sorted. Mine seems the opposite though, it feels like the steering is harder at low speeds than high - I thought it should be the other way around, light when slow, heavier when fast??

Can the module be plugged in the wrong way around?  

[TheBoy]

Here is a pic of the little bugger by the way.....I had one in the garage.

Ah! Thats the big bugger behind glovebox?  I was looking for another relay over weekend, and noticed that.

[TheBoy]

Thanks to TheBoy for re-programming my power steering this afternoon (and the other bits you helped with too, yes I am a lazy bugger !)

The result of changing it to least assistance is that the problem hasnt totally disappeared but I reckon its about 80% improved  . Still seems to have full assistance at low speed but weights up more once on the move. Where before I was having to make constant corrections moving the steering wheel maybe an inch either way (while going in a straight line) its now only the occasional correction and maybe only half as much movement of the wheel. It also seems to corner in a much more linear way now I can follow a curve without major corrections !

So steering idler is on the cards next to see if I can totally eliminate it.

Cheers !

Well, glad its an improvement, even if not entirely cured...

[Kevin Wood]

My car was still pretty nervous after changing the wishbone bushes. Everything else in the suspension is solid and the geometry is set up spot on now.

Decided yesterday to have a practice with the Tech 2 and noticed the Servotronic was set to the middle setting (10 IIRC). Set to Min (9) and it's transformed the car. There's actually some feedback through the steering now and it doesn't need constant corrective input on anything but a perfect road surface.  

Kevin

[Nextgen]

Oh wow...  finally an answer (I hope!)!!!!

Right. I'm an electronics+software engineer, now how the hell do I build/cobble/bodge/buy something that I can do this change with??

Failing that, a visit to VX ££££..??

Thanks Mark et all...

Edwin