HELP! Stranded in France

[yetinomad]

Hello all,

Long story short, the steering rack on my Mk6 Lwb minibus has blown a seal or similar whilst travelling in France, suddenly began losing fluid whilst driving and had lost it all within 30 minutes, steering gradually went from being juddery and whining to losing power steering completely. Currently holed up in a nearby campsite for the weekend as breakdown company says France closes up 6pm on a Friday and all weekend until Monday, so I have to stay put until then and be recovered to a garage in the hopes of them fixing it. I’m not convinced, first of all mine is naturally a UK RHD van and they’re all LHD here so swapping a rack over isn’t possible, if the pipes are shot maybe they can order some and fit them which will probably take a week. I have to be in Southern Spain by first week of June in this van.

My question is, is there somehow a way I could block the PAS system off and bypass it and drive without power steering for the remainder of the trip? That is safely without snapping the main auxiliary belt by seizing the PAS pump due to no fluid because of the leak, so that all of the pulleys etc and belt run as usual but nothing going down to the rack where the leak is? I had to drive it earlier with no PAS and I’d be able to manage it for the rest of the trip, drove an old Triumph for 2 years without PAS up until recently, I’m used to it.

Many thanks.

[metalworker0]

it will be dangerous to drive without PAS ..try it round the car park and see how heavy and unmanageable it becomes.

Look for leaks in the low pressure side ..they can be fixed with tubes pipes and jubilee clips and will get you home.
High pressure side is either tighten or replace.

all the best.mark

[Altransit]

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