There are no gaps in the steering gear drive with a gear rack when the steering wheel is turned all the way to the right or to the left; it does not require maintenance, except for a maintenance check of the condition of the bellows and tie rod ends. Wheel steering is made easier by hydraulic power steering. The hydraulic power steering ensures that the effort required to turn the steered wheels is as low as possible. The power steering consists of an electrically driven oil pump, an oil reservoir located above it and pipelines. The pump and oil reservoir are located on the left behind the front bumper and are accessible after removing the wheel arch trim. The pump takes oil from the reservoir and delivers it under high pressure to a valve located in the steering gear housing. The valve is mechanically connected to the steering column and directs the oil, depending on the position of the steered wheels, into the corresponding chamber of the working cylinder in the steering gear housing. Here, the oil presses on the piston connected to the rack, which helps to reduce the effort applied by the driver to the steering wheel. Checking the oil level in the power steering reservoir is described in the section «Maintenance work».
Safety note: Welding and straightening work on steering components is not permitted. Always replace self-locking and rusty bolts and nuts with new ones in case of repair.
Attention: The specified tightening torques for screwed connections must be strictly adhered to. In the absence of sufficient experience, work with steering should be carried out at a service station.
The steering wheel has an inflatable airbag for the driver. It is a folded inflatable bag that inflates with gas in the event of a frontal collision and protects the driver's upper body and head from hitting the steering wheel. In the event of a sufficiently severe frontal collision, the control unit ignites a small igniter in the airbag assembly, and the resulting explosion gases inflate the airbag within a few milliseconds. This time is enough to dampen the collision of the driver rushing forward by inertia. After that, the inflatable pillow folds up within a few seconds, as the gases escape through the holes in the pillow.
1 - steering wheel
2 - plug
3 - airbag assembly
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