Alright... got a weird one. My power steering works for a few minutes after starting the car, then cuts completely out.

Possibly relevant information:

My speedometer cable is currently broken. I noticed the power steering problem after this happened (not sure if it's related or not).
My radiator fan bolts backed out (!!! Check any fan you receive BEFORE installing!) and the fan spent a while rubbing against the power steering belt. I retensioned the belt, and the engine didn't overheat, so I don't know why this would cause problems.

The pulley turns when the pump isn't working, and restarting the car fixes the power steering until a few minutes pass or I get above a certain speed (not sure, I've just been doing highway driving the past few days).

Help?

-=Russ=-

 

I'm sorry, I had searched for this before, and didn't find anything. Different search terms turned up the results I was looking for (yes, it matters, fix the speedo cable and the steering will work again).

-=Russ=-

 

power steering WILL NOT work correctly if your speedometer cable is broken. Mine didn't work at all, or would work very erratically.

Fix your cable (maybe it just popped out, thats what happened to me) and all will be better instantly.

 

Yea, I pulled at the cable from the engine compartment, it was free at the firewall, so it's disconnected at the gauge side. Later tonight, probably, or tomorrow morning when it gets light.

The funny thing is, I didn't even notice the speedo wasn't working until 20-30 miles down the road. "Oh, hey, 0mph... that's not right. Oh... zero miles? Wow. I've been driving a half an hour on the highway." I don't really look at it.

-=Russ=-

 

Remove it

 

Yea, yea... I can't for the life of me understand why people like removing it. I took a few nice curves while it was not working, and I wasn't impressed. It was just heavy. It's much easier to carve up the road when it's working properly - I rather like it.

-=Russ=-

 

Shrug, its a matter of opinion, I dont like power steering, its way to easy to turn the wheel, it feels ghey to me.

 

powersteering? whats that....