More Power Steering Woes

[DenverQ]

Tonight I replaced the belts and the idler pulleys now the car is super quiet again( 2 of the 3 were very rough turning the PS was the worse)

I also did my super duper oil change now the car is super smooth and quiet again except........

The power steering moan!!!! and as I was under the car i noticed that it looked like both rack boots were leaking so I think my PS is totally shot which kinda makes me mad as I had a warranty till 125k and the Dealership should have noticed something!!!!!!

I am taking it to another dealer 70 miles away tomarrow and having the consult hooked to it and having all the tests run and I am also having the PS checked out throughly I am pretty sure the PS is shot and I will need a new rack (ouch) so unless by some miricle I will be saving for new PS equipment. take this as a lesson inspect and flush all fluids often with the best fluid you can get!!!!! I just caught mine to late if I would have known 3 years ago what I know now, but what can you do maybe sell buy another 94-95 get another warranty and use my knowlage I have acquired and get all the stuff fixed/ taken care of that needs to be so I wont be screwed later on in miles

[texasoil]

Dispair not. That moan is the pump, not the rack. The boots are easy to replace. Unless the rack has too much play, nothing wrong with it. Slight seepage arounfd the rods is normal.

Change the PS fluid and put a cup of Marvel Mystery Oil in it. The moan can also be caused by air (low fluid level.)

[greg_atlanta]

Get a turkey baster and drain and refill the p/s resevoir once a week for a month or so. Use Mobil 1 ATF. Should help.

[DenverQ]

The (stupid) dealer says the pump is bad so I dont know I think I am going to keep flushing it and see id that helps and get some boots what a waste of 120 bucks i am so pissed!!!! (they also hooked it up to the consult and ran a power balance test)

[Q45tech]

Hopefully all cylinders were at a perfectly equal exact 87 rpm drop on power balance {did mine yesterday [as I do every 30 days] to monitor performance and plan maintenance}. The whole proceedure takes me 30 minutes kind of like strapping it to a dyno without all the fush as zero-50 mph runs can be done almost anywhere........sure beats the 50-80 mph stopwatch method!

I have print outs of 4,000-7,000 rpm acceleration parameters [QUARTERLY] going back 5 years, easy to catch a minute drop in performance long before it gets serious.

A critical thing to know is at 6700 rpm what is your MAF voltage [4.41] what is your injector time [9.8 msecs] and what is your ignition advance [27-26 degrees] at 45F ambient and 176F coolant.

I know this would be excessive for owners but it is part of my historical knowledge base in trying to determine how long the motor can last.

[DenverQ]

i actually posted the results in another thread

Power balance test

[DenverQ]

Ive spent the last few days flushing my PS fluid its now all pretty and red the P/S system works better at low speeds but is still dead when the car is not moving. If I rev it a little the assistance comes back. I wish the stupid dealer would have run the P/S tests in the book. So I guess its time to get out the multi-meter and test the inputs and such. I refuse to believe the pump is bad since it is so unheard of for one to fail.

PS. I am also scared if i spend the $$ to replcae the pump it still wont be fixed.

[natsoundup]

Is it just possible the belts are not at the right tension?

just an idea since you said the assistance comes back when you rev the engine a bit...

[DenverQ]

It could be but I just replaced the belts and the pulleys and I had .31'' of deflection. I guess I could have it checked as well good idea

[QShip]

Get a turkey baster and drain and refill the p/s resevoir once a week for a month or so. Use Mobil 1 ATF. Should help.

Do you have to remove the 'screen' inside the p/s resevoir before you use the baster?

[greg_atlanta]

Yes, screen needs to be removed.

I just took it out and put it in a drawer. Pouring fluid through the screen is VERY slow. Same goes for master cylinder.