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Power steering pump or steering rack

11K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  blackfusion06 
#1 ·
Vehicle in question is a beat-to-hell 1994 Pontiac Grand Am SE 2.3 SOHC.

Previously had a squealing while turning, with variable amounts of steering assist (you would feel the steering wheel randomly resist).

Now no squealing, but no power steering either. Fluid is a very dark color, similar to Pepsi but with a consistency halfway to syrup.

Pulled out the power steering pump, but it feels the same as the replacement one -- not all loose and coarse like a failed water pump. Is it common for a failed power steering pump to still feel 'tight' but not give pressure? Or is it more likely there was actually a fault in the rack-and-pinion bit of this? Advance gave me the wrong pulley puller so I can't reinstall it until tomorrow.

Piece of crap car. Motor mounts and shocks and exhaust are all shot too.
 
#3 ·
Still in the process, they gave me the wrong pulley puller and the belt had to be ordered. Just concerned right now with the system pulled apart that I did all this for nothing since the pumps 'feel' the same.

If it requires a special tool and does everything ass-backwards from every other manufacturer, you can bet it's GM. Power steering powered by a pulley on the camshaft? Yep. I mean, why not stress the timing chain on an interference engine? Pulley that requires a specific GM tool rather than the generic "49-state legal" grab-the-flange-and-pull puller? Of course, because none of the stores will have it!.



I mean, it's no wonder they're broke, they make a hundred different versions of the same product. My parents have a 2002 GMC Savana. Needed a fuel pump. For the 2002 GMC Savana 1500 with 5.7L V8, there are 21 different fuel pumps.

  • Repair kit
  • W/ 2 connectors, w/ pressure sensor, w/o auxillary, for cargo/pass
  • Non-California, w/ 1 connector, w/o pressure, w/o aux, cargo/pass
  • Non-California, Over 8500lb GVW, w/ 1 connector, w/o natgas, w/o pressure, w/o takeoff, w/o Module Code VAZ
  • w/code VAY, w/o pressure
  • w/code VAY, w/ pressure
  • Non-California
  • w/ pressure, w/ code VAY, no harness
  • California, w/ pressure w/VAY
  • 35-gallon tank, w/o pressure
  • Non-California, NF4, 7T6
  • w/o pressure, w/o takeoff, w/VAZ
  • California, w/fitting
  • VAZ
  • w/o takeoff
  • OEM
  • w/8500+GVW, w/o pressure
  • Natural Gas
  • California, w/ takeoff, w/o 55-gallon
  • OEM (Again)
  • OEM (Again, Several different manufactureres claiming theirs was the OEM)

You shouldn't need to determine whether or not you have VAY or VAZ for a device whose job is to get fuel to the engine without exploding. Unsurprisingly, we drove with the wrong pump for a little over a year, turns out we needed W/ 2 connectors, w/ pressure sensor, w/o auxillary, for cargo/pass while we got Non-California, w/ 1 connector, w/o pressure, w/o aux, cargo/pass (And the one WITH the pressure sensor ended up being $50 cheaper)

Fuck you, GM
 
#5 ·
Wasn't that the twin cam 2.3? Where the pump is driven by the intake cam? I don't remember them making a SOHC 2.3. It sounds as if the rack is toast. What are your suspension components like? If you've got a bad strut mount that could also be causing the "hard steering".

And yes, your description is exactly why I'll never own another GM car. They are engineered SO poorly. Well, at least all the ones from the 90's.
 
#9 ·
[quote author=Canadian_LX link=topic=203296.msg4185503#msg4185503 date=1328980069]
Wasn't that the twin cam 2.3? Where the pump is driven by the intake cam? I don't remember them making a SOHC 2.3. It sounds as if the rack is toast. What are your suspension components like? If you've got a bad strut mount that could also be causing the "hard steering".

And yes, your description is exactly why I'll never own another GM car. They are engineered SO poorly. Well, at least all the ones from the 90's.
[/quote]

This is the SOHC, aka the redheaded bastard stepchild of the Quad4 engines. Nobody in town had a GM puller so I just used a 3-jaw puller. Pulley is small and metal so whatever, it won't bend.
New pump is installed, squeeks a bit but there is power assistance again and there's likely just air in the line and old fluid, I'll probably just buy a couple quarts of fluid and pump out the reservoir, put new fluid in, drive around, new fluid, rinse, repeat, and eventually it'll be mostly new fluid with hopefully no air.

Power steering rack is probably shot but hey, $40 for a replacement pump and it doesn't take two hands to turn anymore.
 
#10 ·
You can flush the rack by removing the return line from the pump and just dump it into a pan and keep adding new fresh oil until i runs clean at the line. You will need to have someone rock the wheel back and forth though to clean the fluid out of both sides of the rack. Its gonna take a few quarts of fluid to do it. and ford also sucks with there special pulley pullers as i just did a water pump.
 
#12 ·
[quote author=ahanix1989 link=topic=203296.msg4186282#msg4186282 date=1329159731]
Return line is on the bottom of the reservoir so unless I plug it I can't do that
[/quote]

you do what you want, but that was assumed you would plug the port (just get the lines thread pitch/size and put a bolt in the return line hole) or cap which ever it is. If you say your fluid looked that bad i would not do anything but a full flush. all those contaminates will just stay in the system if you don't. good luck!!
 
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