power steering problems...

[badm0nkey]

me thinks my power steering just died. can ya explain to a dumb primate what exactly will need to be replaced and how much?

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tony
93 green mtx sho

(photo courtesy of shotime)
less than stock until i graduate...
or find a rich girlfriend...
badm0nkey's lair
badm0nkey's sho specific page
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>
icq=4489268 ps i am an invisible monkey
(...actually i don't have icq because my computer died and i have to use my roommate's... or my parents'... sooner or later i'll win the damn lottery...)

 

[sdpatt]

What are the symptoms of its death? Have you checked the fluid level? Help us out here.

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Scott

1991, 252K miles, glass hood, police grill, SVO shifter, Catz fogs,
K&N, 73mm MAF, Superchip, PP Y-pipe, Borla cat-back, 190 lph pump
Eibach/Tokico/polyurethane, SHO Shop front & rear strut braces,
16x7.5" Moda R1, 225/55ZR16 Bridgestone RE730, -1 deg camber x 4,
Class II hitch, Silver award at the SHOklahoma Car Show

 

[ShoGuy93]

yea i would like to here some symptoms too i think mine be also going!!

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Brad
93 Sliver ATX
SS cold air snorkel with k&n fliter, superchip, flowmasters 40 series, pp y-pipe, Performance Friction Carbon Metallic Brake pads, Pilot fog lights, Kenwood excelon cd player and 10 dics changer. 5% tint all around! Ford Motorsports decal on windsheild, and Blue sho reflective lettering on the body.Blue, Yamaha inside stickers. Blue, SHOForum.com sticker on back window. Ford emblems on my back triangle window with racing decal under it. So it says Ford Racing!! Indy Tags: SHODU

Looking for a Sliver or Black MTX with low miles!!!

 

[batchman]

Power steering is a pretty simple system as far as stuff needing attention. There are only two major parts, a pump to make the pressure and the steering rack to use it.

Here's a generic, sight unseen diagnostic guide.

If you have *no* power steering (can turn but very hard) you probably need a pump or at least fluid. If you need fluid you should find the leak.

If your steering is noisy you are low on fluid or possibly your pump is failing.

If your steering is notchy or grinding you may need a rack.

Another possibility is simply the belt on the pump slipping (new belt indicated).

And a tip - my rack started getting notchy on center at 90k miles. I changed to synthetic fluid and it is much much better. Beats the heck out of a rack ($).

HTH,
- Jeff

 

[badm0nkey]

i hear sounds like an old wooden floor creaking at low mph (usually in parking lots... actually almost exclusively in parking lots). sometimes i feel excessively high resistance when turning. checked fluid level, seemed ok. thinkin about the synthetic fluid... i'm at 107K and counting

 

[SHO SPD]

I have just replaced my pump, it is a pain to do, its such a tight fit. My car mad an aweful noise when I turned, so I put in a new pump, and all is good.

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1989 Titanium pearl
G-tech times
0-60....6.61 sec.
1/[email protected] MPH

"Dont tell me, SHO me!"

 

[badm0nkey]

i was washing the sho yesterday over my dad's and noticed he had a bottle of power steering fluid that was bright red. when i checked my level, the fluid looked grayish black. kinda oily and muddy. so now i'm thinking this might not be good. any ideas?

side note: hey scott - seems like you have an answer for everything...this just a side effect of driving the damn car 250K miles? or are there some good books i should be reading?

 

[faxon]

If you put some on the tip of your finger and wipe it off on a bright surface, you will most likely see little gray particles, which give it the "muddy" look. These are little parts of metal from your steering rack that are getting cirulated back over it over and over again. This really eats your rack up supposedly. Flushing your fluid would be a smart thing to do, but since you don't know if you have a bad pump or rack, before you pay someone to flush it if that was your plan, or even do it yourself, get the problem diagnosed, because if you flush the fluid, find you have a bad pump, you will just get to do it all over again, and it's about 50 bucks to have it done, and a very messy, miserable job in the winter.

 

[badm0nkey]

winter? i live in california. los angeles specifically. it's november and i'm wearing a tank top and shorts. at 8 am. back on topic - got paid yesterday, dropping car off today after class... can somebody please tell me why i love this damn car so much?