Cold steering issue

[tompumped]

When the car is cold if i'm driving going straight when I go to make a turn just off center there is a tight spot in either direction. It just gets tight for a second and then releases. When the car warms up after driving maybe 15 minutes it completely goes away. I'm interested to see what someone on here has to say, because my knowledge of the system is minimal at best. It's also a non vaps rack, there is only two wires going to the rack. I'm thinking maybe a fluid flush would fix it, but I don't know. I guarantee it's the original fluid.

 

[spazmoid]

mine does the same exact thing, flushing the fluid helped, but didn't completely solve the problem

 

[tompumped]

I'll flush it when I get the motivation.
I was thinking maybe there's a water in the fluid that freezes, but that's probably wrong.
When I put the new rack in during the clutch job, i'll post back with results, but it wont be cold then. I only got to drive this car when it was cold, so I don't know if it will be there in warmer weather.

 

[sho2see]

yea mine does this to then goes away when warmed up

 

[mooseSHO46]

mine does this too every now and then theres a tight spot but not every time. I'm going to take a closer look at it when I park my SHO for a while for repairs if I get anything I'll let you guys know if I find anything.

anyone else who has suggestions tell me i'll look at everything

 

[SHOZ123]

You guys should switch to a synthetic ATX fluid for the PS.

 

[sho2see]

You guys should switch to a synthetic ATX fluid for the PS.

would this help it? And also if so first flush the old fluid then the trans synthetic right

 

[SHOZ123]

Just get a turkey baster, gallon of cheap atx and some white paper towels.

Put a drop of the new and old fluid on the paper towel and look at the amount of visible suspended material.

Then with the turkey baster suck out the reservoir and refill with the cheap new stuff.

Check again in two days. If it is visibly dirty suck out and refill the reservoir again. Keep doing this at slowly longer intervals until the fluid stays clean between checks.

Then start doing the same thing for a few weeks until you have gone through two quarts of synthetic atx fluid.

After that once a year drain out the reservoir and refill with fresh synthetic atx fluid.

 

[sho2see]

sounds good thanks man

 

[tompumped]

That way is easier than unplugging the return and having someone in the car turning the wheel back and forth while new fluid is filled in the reservoir. Don't forget to plug the reservoir hole or cap. I might try it that way, i'll put synthetic in when I change the rack.
I honestly always thought power steering flushes were a gimmick. I've seen many high mileage cars with no issues ever and the original fluid. This is just based on observation not fact.
I will try the paper towel method to observe the fluid.

 

[93rev2sev]

I've had this problem is 3 of my 6 SHOs.

It's the rack. Probably caused by bad subframe mounts...and years and years of the same fluid. Flushing the fluid MAY help and should be your first step.

On one of them, I could turn the wheel to take a corner and it would not return to center on it's own...that was DEFINATELY the subframe.

 

[SHOZ123]

If the fluid is really dirty then the internal surfaces of the rack are too. I've found the typical flush with someone operating the wheel while another pours in the fluid is a waste of time. The total system volume is only a pint or so and it all goes out very fast. As soon as the new fluid is in there it starts to get dirty again. First time I tried to do a flush in a week the new fluid was as black as the old fluid.

When you do the turkey baster method repeatedly over time this allows the new fluid to clean off the internals slowly.

 

[tompumped]

I've actually never done it that way with someone operating the wheel. At work we had a machine for doing power steering flushes that's the only way i've done it. It required one person.
Rev I replaced the subframe bushings with aluminum ones. I found out after I bought them that they were the "redesigned" bushings, but they fit correctly without bottoming out.