Strange Power Steering issue.

[joemcfarnham]

Hello, I searched the forums and couldnt find anything similar to whats happening to me. One day my power steering is working perfectly the next day, its not 100% gone, but its randomly very hard to turn the wheel or get the wheel back straight even when the car is moving. The power steering pump makes no noise and the fluid is perfectly clean and full. Has anyone ever had a problem like this? could it be the ujoints seizing up or the rack?

THank You

[nipper]

Check the universal joint bewteen the steering column and the rack. Its a common failure.


nipper

[joemcfarnham]

I see 2 ujoints there do i replace both at once?

[nipper]

Inspect them first, but its not unusual for them to sieze up after the miles pile on.

Yes.

nipper

[joemcfarnham]

alright, so I went under the car today, ujoints look good, the drivers side power steering rack has a tear in the boot....... I can see a spec of rust through the boot. Would the tear/crap in there cause the sudden change in steering? do I need a whole new rack? what is the difference between the gt and sedan racks besides $100?

THanks

[nipper]

Yank off the joints and check them in your hand. Looks can be decieving at times.

The ripped boot means you possibly have a bad/siezed inner tie rod end. They are not that hard nor expensive to replace. If you are not leaking PS fluid you most likely dont need a rack (or at least i havent seen enough evidence here to say so yet).


nipper

[joemcfarnham]

Thanks, do i require any special tools to change the inner tie rod. Can u link any instructions or tips?

[nipper]

i just got two for 29.00 with shipping on Ebay.

You will need cotter pins for the tie rod end. The tie rod inners should come with a lock nut and a pinch type lock washer (hammer it to lock it).

Measure the distance from the tie rod knuckle to some other fixed refernece point on the vehical. this will save you the cost of a wheel alignment. Do not turn the steering wheel while you have the tie rod disconnected. Do not back the lock nut off more then you need to, as this will be a reference for the new tie rod end.

To get the outer tie rod end the knuckle, hammer the knuckle, not the tie rod end. You dont need a lot of force (but i just had new ball joints so mine sort of fell out).

Technically it is not very hard to do, but the parts will put up a fight since they have had a happy home for a long long time. Replace the torn boot. Sadly my boot cost more then the 2 tie rods combined, but i was stuck and had to do it.

This isnt waisted money if it doenst solve the problem, and its still a lot cheaper then a new/rebuilt rack.

nipper

[joemcfarnham]

so, The inner tie rod was fine, turns out my strut mount is seized...............

[Huffer]

Strut tops binding up. The bearings in there ran out of grease/went bad.

[2.5GT]

Some of the model years, you can't lube it up. It comes pack with grease from the factory. I know mine it's seal shut but my '02-'03 top hats had a little cover for you to fill it up with grease.

They shouldn't cost much tho..

[Huffer]

The 98 tophats are sealed closed, all others are open. Turns out you can regrease even the sealed ones with a syringe and grease.

[joemcfarnham]

well that was fun, changing the strut mounts while the strut is still on the car is a pain in the ass.............. also forgot to put the spacer/washer back in...............