I've used Smith and Allen cold climate power steering fluid in 2 of my L322's and have put it in a friends car too, all with no adverse effects.

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior
2013 Range Rover Sport SDV6 HSE Black Edition in Santorini Black with Ebony Interior

Thanks David,

I didn't think the fluid would have that much to do with it but just wanted to try genuine out of interest and as a 'belt and braces' kind of thing

What bugs me is I still have a bit of a whine sound when turning the steering stationary.

To me this means there is air in the system, it never goes away so air must be getting in somewhere.

This could explain why the effort changes from one drive to the next?

in my opinion, if air is getting in, which i doubt, there must be a restriction between the reservoir and the pump.
the sound you are hearing could be the pump screaming because its not getting fluid.
this could be because the hose between the reservoir and the pump is not fitted correctly or it has fallen to pieces internally and is blocking supply, this could be intermittently giving you the different situations you describe
good luck RR 2005 4.4 petrol
Any spelling mistakes are the fault of spellchecker
Previous MG J2, CITROEN light 15 x 2 gone unfortunately
Present MERC 180e, RANGE ROVER L322, JAGUAR XJS, MERC 280SE, MG F, JAGUAR S-Type 6v 2003, jaguar s-type 8v 2004, Ford Cougar

Great thoughts Knares,

I have already had the feed hose from the reservoir down to the pump off the car, it's in good order and was correctly routed when removed and also when refitted.

I had also thought about an internal restriction in it so passed my boroscope camera through it, it was perfect with no signs of internal delamination.

A great thought and suggestion though so thank you!

Has anyone heard of the high pressure banjo going in to the rack coming loose?

Well, it's been consistently... awful today.

Heavy steering, poor ride and engine.

Just when I thought I was making genuine progress.

More late night messing,

I've pulled the BCM/GEM out of its recess under the passenger seat and measured the voltage at engine idle to the servotronic valve. (Pins 9 & 11 on the biggest Black connector I believe?)

I have a reading of around 7 volts. Does this seem correct for max assist?

Click image to enlarge

Can someone with suitable diagnostics and a 2006-2009 pre LCD dash L322 please check this out for me?

Read the live values in the BCM and see if your Diagnostic tool is able to display the voltage and amperage outputted to the servotronic valve.

It bugs me that autel/SDD just display 0v and 0 amps on this RR of mine.

I'm sure on previous ones it did provide a volts/amps figure or at least a % duty cycle for the PWM signal.

So for anyone still reading, I've just done the test where I feed 12v direct to the servotronic valve bypassing the BCM output.

The steering was a lot lighter, almost like normal but not quite.

I'm confused now, what does this tell me?

Yes we are still reading, thinking back to when Haylands drove your car, a thought struck me. I have only ever driven my 2006 td6 and my 2007 Tdv8 3.6, and will admit there are days when I think the suspension has become a little 'crashy' and response seems to have been 'dulled down' then the next day I climb in and the car(s) seems sublime in handling and response.
I admire your perceverance, it must be infuriating at times.

My original RR was great during its first year with me, it always drove great and felt consistent.

I cannot recall ever feeling like it was having an off day myself!

Since you have a PFL 3.6 TDV8 Merchy would you kindly consider looking at the servotronic valve output in the BCM using diagnostics (assuming you have a suitable tool)

Mine shows 0v on SDD and Autel despite the fact I've measured the voltage as 7v at the BCM.

Still struggling along yes, 6 years and 5 RRs later since my original

I don’t know if this information is useful but someone with a current generation Mini had all sorts of driveability issues including intermittent strange steering and the fault was cured after fitting a new outside temperature sensor . There are of course many sensors can cause issues .

Maybe time to go back to Bentley?  Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

@MarianaW I have an IcarSoft tool... BUT... it is currently on loan to a friend, will try to get it back and have a look at the values before I go back to sea

That would be very helpful and most appreciated Merchy, thank you.

Not thought about the external temperature sensor but I'm happy to look into anything.

It seems to report the outside temp correctly on the dash?

As for Bentleys I've already owned a CGT but do keep looking at late facelift Arnages...

The temp sensor is probably ok if it shows the correct temperature