I know a little about this, but wanted to see if anyone had experienced this. 2011 GL when backing out or turning at slow speeds, at times the wheel feels tight and tough to turn. Is that a fluid problem or a pump problem?

 

My 07GL 450 steering is hard to turn when parking, after driving for about 20 minutes. Not sure if its the pump or rack n pinion. So if someone else experience this let me know also

 

there is a speed sensitive steering sensor/ valve on the steering rack. it is known to malfunction and make the steering behave the same (heavy) at low and high speeds while it should be heavy only at highway speeds.

unfortunately on the gl platform the sensor/valve is not a separate part but is integral to the steering rack which is a $2k part.

 

can anybody help with the info on replacing a rack n pinion on GL 450 , 2008 ? please, help if u can

 

Mine exhibited the same problem as yours and replacing the pump fixed my hard to turn and low speed issue.

 

I have an 09' GL with the same problem and replaced the pump and that fixed the issue. It is still a little hard to turn at times but nowhere near as bad as it was. Also, check if yours has the speed sensitive steering - mine did not luckily. You can do a simple VIN lookup to see if your exact car does.

 

wonder how to do a VIN lookup to find out if my 2007 GL450 has this speed sensitive steering, thanks a lot,

 

Mercedes hosts a database of options on individual vehicles. You can look it up at https://www.lastvin.com/ among many others. idk how they access the data.

 

Thanks for the info. I just learned that another approach is to call a MB dealer to find out.