Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hi folks,

Need some help here. My steering became really stiff, it has been diagnosed to the part on the picture. You can see it underneath ( connects steering gear and steering rack), goes horizontally from front to back. Is this the intermediate steering shaft ?

Thanks
Yaroslav

Sounds like you need the Steering section of the workshop manual: http://www.delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=115&t=7334

...but yes, the manual identifies that as the intermediate shaft.

Thank you for the link, Growlerbearnz.

Checked it out and as expected there is nothing to service in the shaft. Needs replacement. Stiff steering section doesn't identify it as a potential problem, but the mechanic says it is after doing a number of tests. I guess the part is exposed to rain/splash and over time bearing goes.

Maybe. If the bearings in the universal joint seized up the steering would get a bit stiff, but I wouldn't expect it to be *that* bad as the joint isn't on much of an angle. Still, it's not something I have first-hand experience of, so who knows.

You've checked your power steering fluid level, right? It's the first thing a mechanic would check, but if it is that it's a really cheap fix .

Yes, the fluid I checked - it is all good.

I agree with your assessment, not a lot of movement in that shaft, but it is now noticeably different comparing to normal. Will post here result once I find the part .

Part number MB412520, CAD$118 from Amayama.com.

...which seems surprisingly inexpensive.

Thank you again. Your posts on this forum are appreciated by many.

To confirm here : replaced the part & that fixed the problem. One of the U-joints was fully seized up.

Great! Thanks for letting us know