Hey all,
looking into fixing my steering issue, but wanted to double check the idea before I replace the wrong part.

So my power steering is non-existent. 1/100 times I go to turn I get full power till I change directions of the steering wheel or stop.

the pump whines very slightly and the fluid that is in the reservoir moves quite a bit when trying to turn, at which point the whining does get a little bit louder.

fluid is good, never ran dry, just stopped working one day. Used a Lucas Power steering additive with 0 results.

My thought is the Rack is shot. But I want some second opinions before I replace it, just incase someone has had the same situation.

 

sounds like the relief valve in the power steering pump is not happy. I was replacing mine every few years till I installed a small oil cooler to it. can't just replace the valve, dont make the pump anymore so gotta get a rebuilt.

 

Is that something I can tap a few times with a hammer and maybe jostle it free? To confirm? Any thing more I can do to check?

 

the part of relief valve that fails is part of the housing, the relief valve uses part of the pump housing and as it wears out it can gradually cause the steering to be more difficult to turn and will get louder whine. the whine is the relief letting fluid by when the valve is closed. also its not unusual to get a rebuilt that fails upon install, I went through 2 before I got a good one when replacing once.

 

Ick! But heck yea, I'm gonna try to replace that pump first then! Thank you!!!

 

Juat want piggy back on what craby said also..the power steering system is also very sensitive to dirt and contamination. Dont take much to clog the system and tear seals.