Acura Power Steering Problem

ashilepashilep Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Acura
The power steering on my '92 Acura Legend seems to be failing. It is intermittently hard to turn the wheel, even in warm weather and after the car has been running awhile. My garage hasn't been able to find a problem, and when we asked them to check it again they flushed and refilled the fluid. It hasn't helped, though my wife feels rolling down the road the steering is looser, less responsive.

Anyone else have a problem with an intermittent failure of the power steering to give power assistance? Any suggested remedies? We don't want to put too much money into this 11 year old car. (About 140,000 miles)

Comments

  • alcanalcan Member Posts: 2,550
    If the power steering fluid is turning black, or if the symptoms are worse on cold startup after sitting overnight, it's time for a reman rack and pinion.
  • ashilepashilep Member Posts: 2
    Alcan--you say I need a reman(ufactured?) rack and pinion.

    In the meantime, are there safety issues? Should I get the car off the road right away (leaving aside the difficulty of turning the wheel with reduced power assist)?

    BTW, my brother found a web source that said that Acura relates problems like mine to a speedometer issue, because at low speeds the car handles power assist differently than at high speeds. Anyone every hear about this??
  • billb18billb18 Member Posts: 2
    When driving at highway speeds (65 MPH), it seems as if I am often correcting a slight tendency for the car to drift. I had thought that a car like this would behave "as if it were on rails", especially on a smooth straight-away. Does any one notice this also, and is there a way to tighten up the steering linkages so that I do not feel that I am always correcting/counter- correcting the steering wheel to lessen the tendency for the car to feel like it will drift either left or right on the highway.
  • swschradswschrad Member Posts: 2,171
    roads are crowned (slope to the ditches) and winds blow. these are impediments towards driving straight on through without corrections on any car.

    this is why the driver should stay in the driver's seat, to correct ;)

    you can try idling across an empty parking lot on Sunday to see if it goes straight if pointed into the wind. if so, it's the fault of those pinhead Commie road engineers who think savings lives by rolling the rain off the road is more important than maintaining light pressure against the steering wheel.

    if not, maybe you have a low tire, settled spring, too much weight on one side, or an alignment issue.

    if it's a minor correction you need, it's probably nothing wrong with the car.
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