Jump to content
SAU Community

Power Steering Problem Solving

Grungle

By Grungle,
in Four Door Family & Wagoneers

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grungle Enthusiast

Grungle

Posted
Posted

After taking my car to a track day last week, the power steering hasn't been the same, so I'm looking for some problem solvers/diagnosis experts to think this through with...

I know the power steering overheated on the track. I let it cool down, then drove it home. No loss of fluid, but it was really heavy at very slow speeds. Fine at higher (+10km/h) speeds.

The next morning I sucked the fluid out of the reservoir (which looked clean, and didn't smell burnt), and refilled it. Started the car (cold) and turned the steering from lock to lock 5 times. No dramas - steering was light, no loud noises and the fluid level remained the same.

Took it for a drive, and after 10 minutes when the car was warm I pulled into a car park. The steering was HEAVY turning in. no assistance at all. I stopped, reversed (so revs went up) and had another go and the steering went light again. I then went forward, put it in neutral and with the engine now warm (idling at ~500rpm) the steering was really heavy when stationary.

I reversed out, took off up the road and went through some roundabouts - all good. Steering was light and felt like it always did.

Made it back home and once again, when the revs dropped to idle it lost the power assistance completely.

So I don't know much about power steering pumps...but this seems like a pump problem to me. I'm confused because is it's not completely stuffed - it works as long as the revs are over 1000rpm. Can a power steering pump "partially" fail? Is there anything else that could cause this issue? Leaking valves?

And finally, what's the best place to get a replacement pump? Has anyone got an old one sitting around? The missus will refuse to drive it soon...

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/384489-power-steering-problem-solving/
Share on other sites
AAARGH 33 Community Regular

AAARGH 33

Posted
Posted

I had a similar problem but instead of the steering being heavy some of the time,mine was always heavy.

The fix was a genuine Nissan power steering pump overhaul/seal kit,I put in the new seals and she's all perfect.So maybe the seals are about to go in your pump,I'd go and by a pump seal kit if I were you.

bigkevracer Grand Master

bigkevracer

Posted
Posted

Ask Jetwreck. He cooked his power steering on the track, and warned me I'd need a cooler. He might be able to tell you what he did to fix it.

Seals might make sense though?

When I looked into the cooler, I found that everything else with a similar steering rack (350z, v35, pm35, etc) had a cooler, but we didn't.

Daleo Grand Master

Daleo

Posted
Posted

I have a small cooler to hook up to mine when I get a chance, any ideas which hose it needs to go into?

Hey Scotty,

It should go on the low pressure side of the system; so in the return line to the reservoir.thumbsup.gif

Grungle Enthusiast

Grungle

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I had a similar problem but instead of the steering being heavy some of the time,mine was always heavy.

The fix was a genuine Nissan power steering pump overhaul/seal kit,I put in the new seals and she's all perfect.So maybe the seals are about to go in your pump,I'd go and by a pump seal kit if I were you.

Yeah, that's what I don't get - if it was always heavy or leaking it would be easy. I guess early seal failure could show up like this.

i MAY have a 2nd hand pump in the garage from an M35

Can you PM me a price if you've got one? That sounds better than potentially waiting a couple of weeks for one from Japan. Nissan said they can probably get one, but they want the VIN before they order it.

funnily enough, after driving the car for just a short time you can feel the reservoir heat up quite quickly.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • GTSBoy
      Mistakes were made, my R34 Story

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      There's a fair chance that my bushes are Nismo, because I'm reasonably sure that when asked the question (when putting the subframe into the car in ~2012) "What bushes do you want to run?", I'm pretty sure I would have answered "The stiff ones!". I had to put some silicone grease onto the GKTech inserts I jammed into them last week, because the bushes were quite resistant to having something jammed up their jacksies. So, I reckon you'll be best off doing Nismo + inserts. And, if I'd known you had PU bushes in the subframe AND PU pineapples, I perhaps would have said earlier that that's probably not a good idea. The pineapples are only intended to work with the stock type bushes, because those have a crush tube (which is what makes it end up looking like there is sloppy space in there - but doesn't, because the crush tube does make contact steel to steel) and the pineapples live in the space between the subframe's outer tube and the lower washer/bracket. But the PU bushes don't leave the space in the same way that the stock format ones do, and they do end up fighting for space. Order some bushes and collars and get to it.
    • Kinkstaah
      Mistakes were made, my R34 Story

      By Kinkstaah · Posted

      Thats the current state of the reo. Bit ew, but GTR Reo and supporting bars are $2000, and 2nd hand GTT ones are $1000... More engine disassembly. The good news is   Various LS weird sounds are apparently normal Everything coming out is in perfect condition The bad news is: Everything coming out is in perfect condition It looks like whoever assembled this engine ~25,000km ago was telling the truth with what's in it and how they did it. Even things I was unsure of like the timing chain - But it's a brand new double row timing chain, spaced perfectly. They even cut up the stock windage tray to keep it instead of being lazy and to work with the baffle. Cam, Heads, springs, LS7 lifters, Pushrods - All look new and have obviously been working perfectly. In other news, we removed the pineapples that were loaded below the superpro subframe bushes. They look a fair bit munted and have deformed the poly bushes that are 'above' them. I'm telling myself that now that there's space 'under' the bush between the little cup that bolts in... that having a pineapple wedged there was bad and basically made the rear end solid. The pineapple and the superpro bush are ... equally deformed (i.e they have deformed one another from being smashed together). We'll see how it goes with bushes only. I am sure this cope will fail and the answer will be to drop the subframe and put nismo rubber bushes in there instead. $400 worth of gaskets and ARP head bolts to replace perfectly new looking gaskets that absolutely weren't leaking  and were installed perfectly with great care - because god damnit.    
    • r32-25t
      R32 GTR - Where to begin

      By r32-25t · Posted

      Why bother? Keep them under 1bar and be happy, I had it for 10 years and never had an issue. once you go beyond that the budget blows out fast and then keeps on blowing out 
    • joshuaho96
      R32 GTR - Where to begin

      By joshuaho96 · Posted

      I'd still recommend rebuilding the turbos too. That will eat up a lot of the budget especially if you aren't willing to put in the labor to R&R the turbos yourself but it's a huge risk to ignore it at this point.
    • Murray_Calavera
      R32 GTR - Where to begin

      By Murray_Calavera · Posted

      Can't help it, its an illness. 
×
×
  • Create New...