1997 q45t power steering problems?

[jirving88]

I bought this car for my niece, but I drove it 5 months before I gave it to her. The power steering was making a loud whining noise. It seemed to quiet down after it warmed up. I sucked all of the old power steering fluid out and replaced it with new fluid. It got a lot quieter but there was still a faint whining noise. The rack had a small leak before I got the car, but nothing was leaking on the ground. As soon as I gave it to my niece she tore it up within a week of having it. I don't believe the car's power steering broke by natural causes.

Here is what's happening with the car when I went to check it out. There was a big puddle of power steering fluid all over the drive way. The car is hard to turn but I can still drive it to the shop. I'm assuming it needs a high pressure hose for the power steering which I need the part number for? I'm also trying to decide if the pump or rack is bad or is it both. I know one of the 2 needs to be replaced because it was whining before the big leak occurred. When I had the car it turned extremely smooth even though it had a small whining noise. I'm about to buy a rack and pinion soon if I can't get any help. Does anyone know what the problem could be?

[Jesda]

The racks are notorious for leaking. It's usually not severe and most of us just live with it.

If your fluid level is correct and it continues to whine/grind, it may be time for a new pump as well as hoses. A flush may be a good idea as well.

[elwesso]

The PS pumps on these cars are surprisingly robust, so even if it needs a new one I probably wouldnt hesitate getting a used one. Steering racks typically don't go bad they just get leaky. If you get the front wheels up and the air and it seems to turn lock to lock smoothly, I'd say the rack is OK and leave it alone if you don't mind a minor leak....

Easiest and most cost effective thing to do is take your high pressure line to a place that does hydraulic hoses, and they'll make you a new one using your existing end fittings. I know for first gen Q high pressure PS hoses are NLA, so that's our only option.. Wouldnt surprise me the same is true for second gen.

Nissan PS systems are known to be leaky but overall work pretty well. My Q's power steering leaks a little bit, enough to annoy you but not enough to cause an issue, I top it off about twice a year.

[jirving88]

I don't even know the location of the high pressure hose or how to remove it. I think my niece somehow made the front end almost bottom out by hitting a big pothole or something. She is destructive like that. I put an American Bass Xfl 12 subwoofer in the car and she blew it in less than a week. She has pretty much destroyed the drivers side seat cover. There is a lot of fluid underneath the car on the frame. I think the problem is bigger than the hose because there was still a faint whining noise after I changed the fluid? I can't prove it but she definitely tore it up. I know this has nothing to do with this issue, but I just gave my mother a mint Lexus ls400 coach edition and she tore it up. I had the Lexus for a year and a half before l gave it to her and drove it daily and had no big problems. I did replace the struts and lower ball joints. She called me and said the car was shaking above 50 mph, but she forgot to mention that she'd been riding over many big potholes. I had to force that confession out of her. She wanted me to think that the car just started acting up just like my niece is trying to do.

I know people say that the power steering pump rarely fails, but the racks and the pumps are selling pretty darn fast on ebay for the q45? I wonder are these people buying unnecessary parts? What is the labor time for the steering pump and the rack? I will remove the hose first if I can find it.

[elwesso]

The high pressure line is the big hose with banjo (bolted) fittings on each end that goes from the PS pump to usually a metal line that then goes to the steering rack. In other words the hose doesn't hook directly onto the steering rack but rather onto a metal hard line.

Replacing the hose shouldn't be more than a couple hour job including replacing the fluid (you'll drop all the fluid out once you pull that hose). I suppose the reason PS pumps fail is probably more due to the fact of lines bursting or leaks happening that you run it out of fluid, rather than it being a bad pump design.. If you run it out of fluid and destroy a pump, not really fair to blame the pump for that.

Steering rack would be a little more complicated to do, probably more like a 6-8 hour job. I believe you have to support the engine and lower the engine cross member which means a lot of disassembly or at least unhooking of suspension components, plus you'd need an alignment afterwards since you're unhooking the tie rods from the steering rack. If the rack seems like its operating smoothly but just leaking slightly, it's probably not worth messing with, especially since it sounds like the car is gonna be completely destroyed by the end of the year...

[jirving88]

I guess I got to get it to a shop and find out what's leaking because the power steering fluid is full. It will turn making loud growling noises, but still hard to turn.