Cowgirl Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hi~~ Hubby's 1994 Legacy Wagon AWD has been having power steering issues. It started with the power steering only working intermittently during turning. It would work driving straight then as you would start turning it would be as if manual, then 1/4 of the way thorough the turn, power steering would return. It was this way for both directions. Now it has become non-power steering for 100% of turning and steering during driving. This is from start up till you turn the car off. I did some searches here on the board, and cannot come up with a conclusive test or check that might help us decide if it is the power steering pump or the rack. Does anyone have any checks or tests that might help us figure out which one is the problem???:confused: Thanks in Advance! The Cowgirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Dumb question. Is there any fluid in the pump?! With the engine idling, is the pulley spining. I am thinking either no fluid, slipping belt, or bad pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowgirl Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 Dumb question. Is there any fluid in the pump?! With the engine idling, is the pulley spining. I am thinking either no fluid, slipping belt, or bad pump. Not dumb... I asked my DH the same thing when this first started happening. The fluid level is normal and has not changed. I will have to have him check if the pulley is actually spinning when the engine is idling...I didn't think to look at that. There has been no noise from under the hood during any of this. No squealing, grinding, whining.... nothing to suggest that the pump is failing. But I guess it could fail without any noises....:-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 (edited) i'd jack up the front , start the car and turn the steering wheel. it should work fine. it sounds like torque bind to me. the description of it getting progressively worse seems to fit. search 'torque bind' you'll have lots to read. basically the the transfer clutch that sends power to the rear wheels is damaged and the front and rear wheels bind against each other when turning. would this test help diagnose torque bind in cars with auto trans?, it's similar to the matching front & rear diff check write up in endwrench. may only show severe torque bind, not minor. ?? THIS IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS, BE VERY CAREFUL. (it may be best to have a helper in the car ready to hit the brakes.) jack up both wheels on one side of the car left or right, leave the other side on the ground. parking brake OFF, put the car in neutral and start it. now turn one the wheels by hand if the torque bind is severe enough, locked, the other wheel will turn also. Edited March 27, 2009 by johnceggleston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 i'd jack up the front , start the car and turn the steering wheel. it should work fine. it sounds like torque bind to me. the description of it getting progressively worse seems to fit. search 'torque bind' you'll have lots to read. basically the the transfer clutch that sends power to the rear wheels is damaged and the front and rear wheels bind against each other when turning. would this test help diagnose torque bind in cars with auto trans?, it's similar to the matching front & rear diff check write up in endwrench. may only show severe torque bind, not minor. ?? THIS IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS, BE VERY CAREFUL. (it may be best to have a helper in the car ready to hit the brakes.) jack up both wheels on one side of the car left or right, leave the other side on the ground. parking brake OFF, put the car in neutral and start it. now turn one the wheels by hand if the torque bind is severe enough, locked, the other wheel will turn also. Would inserting a fuse in the Front Wheel Drive fuse holder under the hood, thus turning this car into Front Wheel Drive, not All Wheel Drive, answer the question if this is a torque bind problem or not? If it now drives fine in front wheel drive only, then it is torque bind, right? However, if the power steering is still a problem, then I would suspect the power steering pump is inoperative because low on p/s fluid, power steering belt is missing, or the pump has gone bad. I would not think anything is wrong with the steering rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowgirl Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 i'd jack up the front , start the car and turn the steering wheel. it should work fine. it sounds like torque bind to me. the description of it getting progressively worse seems to fit. search 'torque bind' you'll have lots to read. basically the the transfer clutch that sends power to the rear wheels is damaged and the front and rear wheels bind against each other when turning. would this test help diagnose torque bind in cars with auto trans?, it's similar to the matching front & rear diff check write up in endwrench. may only show severe torque bind, not minor. ?? THIS IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS, BE VERY CAREFUL. (it may be best to have a helper in the car ready to hit the brakes.) jack up both wheels on one side of the car left or right, leave the other side on the ground. parking brake OFF, put the car in neutral and start it. now turn one the wheels by hand if the torque bind is severe enough, locked, the other wheel will turn also. Hummmm.... Subie is a manual trans, so this might be the culprit. DH did replace the clutch about a year ago.... maybe he did something wrong in the R&R??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hummmm.... Subie is a manual trans, so this might be the culprit. DH did replace the clutch about a year ago.... maybe he did something wrong in the R&R??? the clutch has nothing to do with it. manual trans can have torque bind, but less often and less likely. we need more info about how the car acts in tight turns. it should drive smoothly in tight turns with little or no gas. if you have to goose it to get it to go, describe how it drives. i may be leading you astray with torque bind, but the post regarding power steering problems are much fewer than posts about torque bind. more info will help identify the cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Does not sound like torque bind at all. Torque bind or not, the wheel should turn fine, just during acceleration you will feel the binding. Trust me my 93 drove with torque bind for a good 10,000km haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowgirl Posted March 28, 2009 Author Share Posted March 28, 2009 (edited) the clutch has nothing to do with it. manual trans can have torque bind, but less often and less likely. we need more info about how the car acts in tight turns. it should drive smoothly in tight turns with little or no gas. if you have to goose it to get it to go, describe how it drives. i may be leading you astray with torque bind, but the post regarding power steering problems are much fewer than posts about torque bind. more info will help identify the cause. Well, have you ever driven an old truck or tractor that did not have ANY power to the steering??? *That's* what the Subie feels like. DH is getting sore neck and shoulders from driving the Subie.... It is almost dangerous because he cannot make "small corrects" or dodge potholes (or other things) because that kind of "gentle adjustment" just isn't there. ETA: forgot to add...Subie has 210K on it~~In case it matters to help diagnose... Edited March 28, 2009 by Cowgirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welly Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Have you confirmed yet the other items regarding the PS set up - is pulley turning? Having recently had the PS pump shaft go on mine i can atest to the hard work it is to steer. Mine went at 100K miles but it was a sudden failure - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.