Power steering gets stiff after getting abot ~10mph
08-24-13, 09:45 AM
#1
Power steering gets stiff after getting abot ~10mph
Hey guys, problem is occuring in my fiance's early 87 sport.
Thing's got like 235k miles, and the rack seal went out & it dumped all the fluid. Lines were at the point where they were dry rotted & ready to leak, as were other parts of the PS system. So we said let's just start over.
Bought a full system from a local salvage yard that came off of an '88 vert, w/ 95k miles. Everything's a lot fresher looking. Swapped the whole rack & lines as one assembly, and then pulled the pump & swapped that too. Got it all back together, flushed out the rack until fluid ran clear, buttoned it back up & went for a test drive. That's when the problem started occuring. It feels like normal FC PS until about 5-10 mph, then it feels like a stiffer (think 15:1) manual rack.
Through some searching, I found that the PS computer needs resolder when this occurs. I pulled that out, inspected, & found no weak joints as is per the norm w/ bad solder joint boards in these cars (CPU, clock cluster...) Every joint looked strong. Plus, it was working just fine last time the car drove before the whole swap of components.
I decided to swap PS computers, this one coming from another low milage donor, an '86 late model GXL. Still occuring. I tried unplugging both the motor "valve" assembly on the pump, as well as the pressure switch. Neither had an effect on the problem. One combination of such, and I don't recall which, just made all the PS go away, and we had an alarm from the PS comp. don't recall which beep series it was though. Went away when the pigtails were reconnected.
So, this led me to belive that the pressure switch and that motor valv thing (what's its actual name, if anyone knows offhand) weren't interchangeable. So I swapped just those from the old pump. STILL occuring!!!
Has anyone got any more clues??
I've told her she should just swap in a manual rack and be DONE with everything, but she loves her power steering lol
Thanks all!
Thing's got like 235k miles, and the rack seal went out & it dumped all the fluid. Lines were at the point where they were dry rotted & ready to leak, as were other parts of the PS system. So we said let's just start over.
Bought a full system from a local salvage yard that came off of an '88 vert, w/ 95k miles. Everything's a lot fresher looking. Swapped the whole rack & lines as one assembly, and then pulled the pump & swapped that too. Got it all back together, flushed out the rack until fluid ran clear, buttoned it back up & went for a test drive. That's when the problem started occuring. It feels like normal FC PS until about 5-10 mph, then it feels like a stiffer (think 15:1) manual rack.
Through some searching, I found that the PS computer needs resolder when this occurs. I pulled that out, inspected, & found no weak joints as is per the norm w/ bad solder joint boards in these cars (CPU, clock cluster...) Every joint looked strong. Plus, it was working just fine last time the car drove before the whole swap of components.
I decided to swap PS computers, this one coming from another low milage donor, an '86 late model GXL. Still occuring. I tried unplugging both the motor "valve" assembly on the pump, as well as the pressure switch. Neither had an effect on the problem. One combination of such, and I don't recall which, just made all the PS go away, and we had an alarm from the PS comp. don't recall which beep series it was though. Went away when the pigtails were reconnected.
So, this led me to belive that the pressure switch and that motor valv thing (what's its actual name, if anyone knows offhand) weren't interchangeable. So I swapped just those from the old pump. STILL occuring!!!
Has anyone got any more clues??
I've told her she should just swap in a manual rack and be DONE with everything, but she loves her power steering lol
Thanks all!
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rotor_veux
2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992)
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08-31-15 07:49 PM