PS gone bad, Rack or Pump?
10-05-2008, 02:07 PM
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PS gone bad, Rack or Pump? I've had a problem with my steering ever since I first took the car out and burned up a set of rear tires being a showoff. That was 6 years ago; I took it home, sucked some fluid out and put Lucas in. Since then, the steering has gotten hard on and off and I did the same thing, which always seemed to solve the problem at least for a while.
About a month ago, I pulled the radiator to clean the fins, etc and while I was at it I drained all the fluid out of the pump. I refilled it, put some Lucas in, bled it (lock to lock with the wheels off the ground, engine off) and it seemed fine.
A week later I took it into the hills and did some high rpm hotrodding; the steering got real hard after about 15 mins and hasn't been the same since. Yesterday I bled the system again. The fluid was at the correct level but rose significantly (to the point of overflowing) while moving towards lock then dropped back down as I started in the other direction. I bled it for about 1/2 hour and every time I got air. Given the amount of air that came out, I don't see how the rack or the pump could have that much air in it.
When the rpms are up (2k or so), it seems fine, but at low rpms it's VERY hard. When I get back on the gas coming out of a corner the steering gets easy (which can be an "interesting" experience!).
How do I tell if it's the rack or the pump that's gone bad?
About a month ago, I pulled the radiator to clean the fins, etc and while I was at it I drained all the fluid out of the pump. I refilled it, put some Lucas in, bled it (lock to lock with the wheels off the ground, engine off) and it seemed fine.
A week later I took it into the hills and did some high rpm hotrodding; the steering got real hard after about 15 mins and hasn't been the same since. Yesterday I bled the system again. The fluid was at the correct level but rose significantly (to the point of overflowing) while moving towards lock then dropped back down as I started in the other direction. I bled it for about 1/2 hour and every time I got air. Given the amount of air that came out, I don't see how the rack or the pump could have that much air in it.
When the rpms are up (2k or so), it seems fine, but at low rpms it's VERY hard. When I get back on the gas coming out of a corner the steering gets easy (which can be an "interesting" experience!).
How do I tell if it's the rack or the pump that's gone bad?
10-05-2008, 05:08 PM
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Update: I did a pressure check on the cooling system, it held 19 lbs for about 2 mins and I didn't notice any air or coolant seeping into the PS pump, so it's not that...
