Steering whine at low speeds

[GoldenWonder]

Sigh. No sooner has the local Renault garage 'fixed' the clicking noise from the steering than a new fault arrives.

Now the steering whines at parking speeds. The renault 'expert' tells me that the noise is within limits. Funny how it didn't do it before though.

I understand this is an electric steering motor - do they generally whine at lower speeds? Some of my previous cars with older hydraulic systems used to make some noises but this a new one on this car.

[IainMW]

They do whine a bit, some are louder than others. Mines was quite noisy at low speeds where as my dad's is virtually silent.

It seems strange that it's only just started to do it though, particularly as they just fixed one stearing fault?
It could be that what ever they have tightened to stop the clicking has caused the noise to resonate more through the column/dash?

Dunno!

[CanadianMike]

could be something to do with the power steering, a mate of mine at work had a "whale like noise" coming out of the steering column at slow speeds, and when she took it in there was some fault on it(she said she was a woman and that all she knew was that it shouldnt be making that noise)

just my 2 pence, dunno if it helps or not :P

[AlexB]

IainMW has a point. Something was changed during the repair, which causes the sound. I don't think it is the bolt, because even when it clicks the joint remains reasonably tight. They could have damaged something mechanical while handling the car, but this would be discovered easily. Anothert option is programming. Read the documents pointed at in my message in the Links section. They could have "adjusted" something which causes the control loop to oscillate thus making the noise, or they could have corrected the mechanical misalignment electronically, thus putting a constant load on the motor, or ... there are just too many options.

Iain, to what you wrote. Does your dad's car have the same wheels as yours? You know, for different sizes the steering should be programmed differently...

[IainMW]

Iain, to what you wrote. Does your dad's car have the same wheels as yours? You know, for different sizes the steering should be programmed differently...

Well my Megane has gone now (Laguna owner again) but yes the two cars were/are virtually identical. Mine was the 1.5dCi and dad's is a 1.9dCi both with standard 16" wheels on them.

[AlexB]

Iain,

1.9dci uses conf.2 and 1.5dci uses conf.1 of the steering controller. Isn't it why my car is as silent as your dad's?

[GoldenWonder]

Well predictably the clicking noise has returned so its booked back in for their 4th attempt to sort it, so I will mention the whine (along with 3 all new faults!)

[lexicalmatt]

Hi

I have this on a 03 plate Megane. I've recently had the clockstring/rotary switch replaced as per the usual symptoms but the airbag/service light has some on a few times between now and then so I'm taking it to be looked at under warranty. Could the two be connected? I'm REALLY hoping the whine is a symptom of a problem with the clockspring and will go if it is replaced, if its something mechanical I'm afraid I'm going to sell the car. Clockspring, dephaser pully, top mount and dephaser pully in 6 months? That would be enough for me.

Matt

[tomalamix]

the whining is normal, it whines louder if you turn the wheel rapidly and it will whine less audible if you turn the wheel slowly. you can test it. the electrical motor has different torques as necessary, ie, you need more power to steer it will work more rapidly, if you dont need any assistance at all the whining shouldn't be virtually audible because the electrical torque motor should be at the minimum or idle speed, as you which to call it.

cheers

[RichardFrench]

It sounds related to the power steering and it's motorisation.
It shouldn't cost much or take long to fix.

Maybe you should look for a new "specialist"