Replacement accumulator fixed heavy steering while parking

Last year I replaced my accumulator sphere on the DS.   The main driver for this was that I was getting short ‘cycle’ times.  (i.e. the hydraulic pump would kick in very regularly to maintain system pressure, which puts stress on the system).   At the time, I did get an improvement in cycle time.   Secondarily I was hoping to cure a problem where the power steering would get very heavy while parking.   My theory was that there was not enough reserve pressure, which meant that the power assist was not working as well as it could.

However, the good news is that the steering is now much better parking.   If you have very heavy steering while parking on your DS, it may be worth looking at your accumulator sphere.  New spheres are not expensive, although a huge pain to change out.