hey guys i'm not sure whats up with my steering. there's alot of play in the wheel and i don't feel it tighten up like it used to when the assist shuts off. any sugestions?

 

take off the power steering.

 

when i say sugestions i mean to fix not remove

 

tighten up when the assist shuts off???

year and model??

The steering ratio won't change when the assist shuts off.

 

Generally if your feeling a tightness in your power steering, it's either your pully slipping or the pump is having problems.......... Like Icemark said, year model? The FC's came with two different types of pumps.

 

it's an 88 se

i know there are two types

i was told that the steering is soposto feel tighter the faster you go...like the steering in BMW's

 

Again the ratio does not change, however the boost (how much effort required to turn the wheel) decreases with speed.

So that it is at full boost (little effort to turn the wheel) is at 10 MPH and lower, and that decreases to about half assist/boost at around 17- 20 MPH and at about 40 MPH there is no assist/boost at all, making the effort considerably harder to turn the wheel.

But again it would not change how tight the ratio is... all the S4 power assist steering racks use a 15.2 to 1 ratio, or tightness.

 

ohh see thats the mix up when i said "tighter" i ment harder to turn the wheel...i know that it is still turning at the same ratio

so if i don't feel any difference in boost then what do you think is wrong? there is plenty of fluid and new pressure lines

 

did you check your belt tension?

 

yes the belt is fine

the problem is either electronic or the pump it self

does anyone know whats going on?

 

so is the assist/ boost always on or always off or what??? Can you be more clear about the problem?

 

how can i be more clear! the wheel has alot of play all the time. the power assist never goes 50/50 or off.

 

well with PS you always get a bit more play than manual.

 

what is so hard to understand about this! the problem is new. it never used to have this much play in the steering! i need solutions, not basic statements about the difference in manual and power. i think everyone knows that there is more play!

 

It helps if you are more clear. It only took you 6 posts in this thread to partially say what was happening...

And the idea of more play in the steering still can't be right unless you have a broken steering rack.

if the assisted/boosted steering never goes off, and your not getting any warning beeps (like from the speedo cable not hooked up, or the steering wheel is in the wrong position) then the problem is related to power steering computer (although normally even when it has a problem it beeps). It sounds like the steering computer has partially failed or the beeper in it has failed if the boost is always on.

If you un-plug the power steering computer how does your steering feel. Is it still loose? Unplugging the steering computer will prevent any steering boost, so if your steering is still loose then replace the rack or take the car in to a suspension/steering mechanic to trace down what you bent/broke.

 

i was reading on another forum about a motor under the hood that is used to controle the speed sensitive steering. could that be the problem? could it be unhooked? what does it look like, do you have a pic?

 

Again, then the power steering computer would be beeping telling to that the stepping motor has failed.

And again the stepping motor wouldn't have anything to do with the tightness of the steering. If there is play in the system, it won't be because of the stepping motor working or not working.

Did you do any of the tests I asked you to do in the last post???

 

ok i did what you said. i unpluged the comp and the steering got really hard, like manual steering. so does that mean the comp is shot? i also bleed the steering just to make sure theres no air in it. haven't driven it yet so i then rare event that air was the problem i'll let you know.

 

You said:
and now you are saying:
But you didn't answer the question.
Is this an issue of too much play in the steering or/and issue of boost on all the time?

You're posts/replies are making in very very hard to figure out what your problem is well alone to diagnose this so called problem.

Is the issue:

Too much play?

Or

Too much assist all the time?

 

i really don't understand why this is so complicated! when i unpluged the comp there was no "boost" it was hard to steer. when the comp is on the boost never shuts off. i hope that you can understand what i'm saying.

 

In my 88, The steering effort never changes. It feels the same all the time although it is assisting more or less depending on need.

Are you are saying that your steering feels sloppy? As in it feels like too much boost? Or are you saying that the wheels wander and the steering does not seem to affect it much until you turn the wheel a greater amount?

Also, there is no other motor... Just the computer controlled pump.

 

well, until you can figure out what your problem is (loose steering? or too much boost?) I (and probably everyone else) can't help you.

Blktoptrvl is correct, the effort should never feel like it changes.

Again the steering is sloppy and loose, then the problem is the rack or suspension. If the steering is always boosted and you are not getting any beeping error codes then it must be the power steering computer.

But you have to actually figure out what is happening and tell us instead of just saying that the steering is loose or has too much play (which is completely different problem than always assisted).

So again, when you unplug the steering is the steering loose or does it track/turn correctly and you just were not communicating the problem correctly?

Man, how many times do I have to ask the same question???

 

i thought this would have clarified things but i guess not.

"So again, when you unplug the steering is the steering loose or does it track/turn correctly and you just were not communicating the problem correctly?"

when i unpluged it it was not loose, i guess the term you used is track/turn(not sure what that means but thats what it's doing)

i don't know how else to explain it, what i deffintly know is it doesn't feel the way it used to when driving at different speeds.

 

the wheel deffintly does not wander. what it feels like is that the boost never goes off! it feels fine at speeds lower than 40 but around 60 when it should have less boost it feels just the same.