Hot answers tagged power-steering
7
Power steering fluids, like most, vary in color.
Personally, mine is clear. Brown sounds like an unusual color to manufacture, but a very deep reservoir of clear or slightly dirty fluid might look brown. Or, they might have mixed two different brands of fluid, for example if it was topped off at an oil change.
Try sticking a clean rod into the reservoir. ...
4
A - You can replace the seals in the pump if your pump is leaking. I've never done this on a Subaru, but this link should help:
http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=123004
B - I checked at my local Subaru dealer and their price for parts only would be $370 plus tax. Maybe your dealer was including installation?
C - As far as the reliability ...
4
With power steering complaints such as yours where the symptom is intermittent the diagnosis is mostly guesswork in a setting such as this. You can do a few things to get to the source though.
A little about modern power steering
Many vehicles have power steering assist controls such as a vehicle speed sensors and pressure switches/solenoids that stage the ...
3
A lot of BMWs have a noise, but it might be a pump going bad. If I remember right, the lines are right under the reservoir. Check them for softness, and if they are soft/chewy I guess you can replace them. If it's a pump, run until it pops, as they are like $400. As far as the lines from the rack, those are hard lines, and unless clearly pinched not sure if ...
3
Quoting the factory service manual for a 2005 Jeep Wrangler (Page 0-6):
POWER STEERING FLUID
The recommended fluid for power steering system is Mopar ATF+4.
Mopar ATF+4, when new is red in color. The ATF+4 is dyed red so it can be identified from other fluids used in the vehicle such as engine oil or antifreeze. The red color is not permanent and is ...
3
I had this same problem. You need a replacement orange O-ring with part 91345-RDA-A01. This video will show you the problem in great detail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf-_qp1y4yc
BTW, if you have a V6, there is a recall on a possible leak in one of the power steering hoses. You may want to have that checked out as well.
3
Is the noise coming from the steering itself, or from the tyres? i.e does it make the noise as you are turning the steering wheel, or does it still do it as you hold the wheel steady during the turn? If it is the latter (the "hollywood tyre squeal" effect), that is quite common, particularly on the smooth concrete you tend to find in multi-story car parks.
...
3
I am not positive from the picture but if that is screwed into the steering rack it's the Front sub-steering angle sensor.
If it's in a hose which seems more likely to me it's the power steering pressure switch.
Pictured below
Link to Autozone site for part
Power steering pressure switch reports power steering high pressures to the on-board computer ...
3
If replacing the power steering pump triggers a fault code, all you need is one of these to reset it:
http://www.amazon.com/Autel-MaxiScan-MS509-Scanner-vehicles/dp/B0056VHZD8/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1355944663&sr=1-2&keywords=EOBD+reader
Someone can feel free to come along and prove me wrong here because I'm not 100% sure how ...
2
I'd suspect worn tie rod ends. Grab hold of one and give it a twist and see if there's any play. If it's not too worn, you may be able to grease it and avoid replacement.
You should also check your power steering fluid, but if that's low I'd expect it would creak on both left and right turns.
2
As a general rule, high pressure hoses will have crimped connections on them. The small clamp connectors are on the pump feed and return hoses, which are low pressure lines. They typically don't leak as often as the high pressure ones do. The high pressure line, according to the diagram you posted, comes from the PS pump and enters the rack. There is a ...
2
It looks like this is a Automotive 12.5-4.4V adapter to a PC Regulated 12.0V/5.0V ATX adapter for a motherboard (hence the chokes) with a small LED output. The first thing you need to figure out is the wiring input:
Red = +12V?, Ignition/On?
Black = Ground?
White = +12V? Ignition/On?
+12V Constant - The power requirement isn't too great (fused at 10A) ...
2
What you are describing sounds like activation of the automatic's kickdown switch. Which is just that, a switch that forces the engine to downshift to provide more immediate acceleration. This is normal, and is usually a physical switch attached to the end of the gas pedal's travel path. It is activated when, say, 90% or more throttle depressed. Newer cars ...
1
There use to be a say that you never changed you transmission fluid from whatever to whatever, due to detergents eating up any little bit of soil that might have been holding a leak back. Assuming you used the same fluid type, and the other fluid was filthy enough to have a positive viscosity gain, the new fluid might have found the weakest link. Look for ...
1
Wanted to post as comment, but I do not have enough rep.
Sounds like power steering failure. I had a belt that snapped on my '92-98 Corolla and had to drive through two seasons without power steering. At a still, and on reverse speeds, the steering was pretty hard to turn, however as soon as the car moved forward, turning the wheel was a breeze. High RPMs ...
1
It might help if you give a little detail about your car generation or made year, since there might be variation on power steering system.
Does the car manual or auto transmission? Is it share power steering fluid with clutch fluid, leak might occurred at clutch cylinder where you might did'n look at.
Edit: read the problem description again and found that ...
1
Did he say why you needed new lower control arms? Usually the bushings just need to be replaced not the entire control arm.
If he was talking about the CV joints needing to be replaced, they have seals and rubber boots that cover them. If the rubber boots or seals have cracked due to being old, it could let the grease escape from the CV joint. Then as the ...
1
Following up on Nick's answer, you can confirm whether you're hearing tire noise or power steering pump noise in a couple of easy steps:
Try making a hard turn of the wheel at almost no speed at all. For example, when backing out of a garage (don't hit the wall). If the tires are barely turning, any squeal at that point is much more likely to be a pump ...
1
If there was a squeal when it came on, it could simply be that the belt is loose and/or wet. The belt ends up sliding around instead of spinning the pump. Ultimately it grabs (with a squeal) and gets the pump going. A contributing factor can be a failing pump that is much harder to turn. I'd check the belt tension and condition for sure. If possible, ...
1
Not sure about Accords, but my wife has a BMW 330i and it has the same feature. It's leaking from a vent hole in the reservoir and apparently that's "works as designed".
BMW community has accepted that the proper solution is The Sock Mod. Could be same vent design on honda, but not sure since don't own one.
1
Power steering fluid is usually a slight variant of automatic transmission fluid. Some manuals even call for using ATF in the power steering system. Red, pink, and clear are the usual colors.
Black, dark brown are signs of contaminants. The fluid in any car is going to get old and contaminated and it isn't necessarily a bad thing unless it just never gets ...
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