If you’re reading this then you are likely to have experienced the same scary problem with your Peugeot. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the car is screaming at you saying “Steering System Failure”. The power steering goes and you’re left with the heaviest steering wheel in the world. It’s like trying to move your wife’s wardrobe with it full of all her clothes, and herself inside it.
I wrote in my article about my experience with the Peugeot 3008 that my power steering failed. Usually when I was parking the car it would suddenly die. One other time it failed was when I was driving at 50 mph on a country road. It was totally unsafe to drive at that point. A garage I took it to quoted around £300 for a new power steering ECU. The power steering pumps in these Peugeot 3008’s are electric. I could spend nearly £800 on a complete new power steering unit if I wanted to.
Fix your power steering problem like this
IMPORTANT: This guide relates to Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars built after 2007.
You don’t really care what I was quoted though. You only care about how I fixed my issue. You’ll be happy to know it’s a relatively free fix. It costs only however much your local garage charges for it’s air pump.
To fix this power steering problem you need to make sure that the tyre pressures on your front wheels are not only at the correct pressure, but that they’re identical to each other.
The ECU on the power steering pump can’t handle one tyre being a few PSI lower than the other. This creates load on the pump. It takes far more effort to move the tyre with lower pressure than the other. In true French fashion it gives up, waves the white flag, leaving you at the side of the road.
Still an issue? Check for leaks
The other steering issue you may encounter is continual heavy steering with no warnings. This also happened to my hateful Peugeot 3008. This time the fix wasn’t so cheap, but it was at least cheaper than going for a new unit.
The power steering pump has a series of seals inside it which can degrade over time. Especially if the power steering fluid has been neglected during servicing. A mechanic can strip the pump down, replace the seals, and top it up with the correct oil. Remember that PSA mandate that you use Total Fluide LDS. When you see the cost of Total Fluide LDS, you’ll see why they mandate it. PSA scratches Total’s back, while they collectively stick a knife in yours.
Buying a Peugeot 3008? Don’t. Just don’t.
If there is one tip I can give you when it comes to fixing your Peugeot 3008, or other modern Peugeot, is to get the car fixed and sell it. Peugeot’s of this era are notorious for shoddy build quality and reliability. It wouldn’t be so bad if replacement parts were sensibly priced. But £800 for an electric power steering pump that is faulty by design is not sensible.
My Peugeot 107 hasn’t cost me a penny in the 10 years I’ve had it but yesterday I tried to drive home and it was like driving a ten ton truck with the handbrake on. Still the mechanic is running his head and dosent l ow what’s wrong with it.
The power steering on a Peugeot 107 is electric, so has it’s own ECU. From a quick Google it seems like this can cause the issue, a bit like what the article describes! Thankfully though a new power steering unit for the Peugeot 107 isn’t too expensive, so you should be able to change it and it’ll be good to go again for another 10 years!
I had the power steering go on my 2011 sportium Peugeot fixed free of charge. Now 15 months later it has failed again no help from Peugeot this time. I know they only carry 1 years warranty but surely they should last longer than 15 months. As I now work from home it has only done about 4K miles extra.
Have you tried checking the tyre pressures? It’s a crap design, but we’re unfortunate to have Peugeot’s from that 2010 era where they couldn’t give a toss about reliability. Or style, when you come to think of it.
208 Peugeot Rental car with only 500 KLM on the clock in Madeira.3 times in a week whilst driving,the steering pushed the the car unexpectedly to the left without warning,very dangerous!!!
I have Peugeot 3008 2020 automatic model. All of a sudden, I am experiencing a minor noise when I steer left of right. I can feel a little vibration through my left feet (which is at rest).
Rest, it’s driving fine but I am just wondering what it might be? Any idea
Could be any number of things. If you’re concerned visit a trusted garage.