More Power Steering Woes - Difficult To Turn At Times!

[90LS400Lexus]

(1991 LS400) Well, just when I thought all was well, my power steering is "acting up" again. To recap, I had blocked the idle-up valve and re-routed the vac lines, then I had a leak at the return line, replaced it and all was well. No more smoking and no more leaks! Fluid is staying full and is full now.

I was told to expect it to be harder to turn at LOW speeds, but other than that, it would not be noticable. Well, oddly, I could not even tell it at first... for several days, even at very low speeds the steering would turn very easily. I was puzzled. Then it got to where it sporadically would be harder to turn, then it would be easy again. Then it got to where even at higher speeds it was harder to turn, then easy again.

Well, today its been a pain. I drove my Mercedes most of the day, but had to go back out to the bank, so I took the Lexus. On the way, all was fine... steering was a breeze. I stopped the car, went in the bank. Came back out and started it and the wheel was quite hard to turn... even when moving and at speeds, I could tell it was not wanting to cooperate. I came home, but had to go back to town to pick up some dinner for grandpa... again, steering required a great deal of pressure to turn. Driving back, almost all the way home, the steering became very easy to turn again... even when I am completely stopped and at idle. What gives? When it was acting up and was hard to turn, it had some assist I know, because when the car turned off, its almost impossible to turn.

I am just so confused as to whats going on and getting really frustrated again.

Thanks for any info.

[90LS400Lexus]

I have heard that occasional hard steering is a sign of a bad or failing steering rack.... anyone else agree? If thats the case, I am ditching this car once and for all. <_<

[curiousB]

I have heard that occasional hard steering is a sign of a bad or failing steering rack.... anyone else agree? If thats the case, I am ditching this car once and for all. <_<

They talk of stiff steering on this thread. Seems to suggest maybe a clogged screen in PS pump. Might be simple enough to check. You've become a PS expert by now!

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294762

[90LS400Lexus]

I have heard that occasional hard steering is a sign of a bad or failing steering rack.... anyone else agree? If thats the case, I am ditching this car once and for all. <_<

They talk of stiff steering on this thread. Seems to suggest maybe a clogged screen in PS pump. Might be simple enough to check. You've become a PS expert by now!

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294762

Thanks. I will look into that. Well, we took the car to dinner tonight to a restaurant that was 22 miles away (thankfully ALL was highway miles and mostly straight), but it was acting up again the entire time... very stiff steering. Seems like that PS screen is a PITB to clean. Naturally. ;)

Whats so strange is that its OK one time, then hard to turn the next... but this time its staying that way longer than usual.

I am honestly about to just park the Lexus in the garage, drive my 38 year old Pontiac (which never fails me, but guzzles so much gas, but oh well). I have been hinting to my mom that this LS is a POS, hoping she wont want it anymore and I can sell it, but she still seems to want it. Maybe I can buy another LS and give it to her and ditch this one to someone able to do more work to it themselves. I am becoming poor man quick with this car.

[OmarG]

dude, i can find you a PS pump for like 100 or less. Your lexus is not a POS. its just a 45k machine that is 18 years old. put up an ad on craigslist for a mechanic needed. I'm sure you can find somebody out of work with skills.

I'll break it down for ya.

You need 2 motor mounts. buy new for a total of 190 with shipping from parts.com (OEM toyota parts)

you need a PS pump. I'm sure you can find a used one. If not i think i have an extra one I could sell. 50-100 for used. about 150 for new/reman.

Look up all the procedures on how to replace everything.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/4500...eplacement.html (motor mounts)

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/steering/pspumpremoval.html (PS Pump)

Put up ads on craigslist. Do some bargaining. Explain how everything is straightforward. I bet you could find somebody to do everything for 200-250.

So 240-350 for parts and lets say $250 for labor @ 50 an hr for 5 hours. (shouldn't take longer than that if they have the right tools)

So your realistic range for fixing the LS400 that your mother wants so much, and you already have 4k into is... $440-600.

its up to you to decide whether that is worth it.

Depends on what you can realistically sell it for not repaired.

[90LS400Lexus]

Thanks for that info. Well, to me in its current state, its a POS. :D

I am not a "wealthy" person, which is why I am foolish for owning a car like this... this makes #2. lol. I am currently trying to get through college classes, still live at home, but I do pay the water bill. I dont clear that much money week after they take for out taxes, insurance, 401K, etc. Then I have my monthly car insurance (on three cars) which really isnt that much for that, then I have a couple of small credit cards, then I have to eat through the week and necessaties, etc. It really dont leave much for the "car repair bill"... then I still owe $2300 on this car, so I have to deal with that as well.

Understand that my dad is supposed to be buying this car from me for my mom and I have been trying to slowly get it up to shape, but everytime I get one thing fixed, something else is needed. $140 for a pump, $190 for mounts, etc may not seem like much to someone making $400 per week, but thats alot of money for me. ;) Then being not much of a DIY'er, (which we did manage to do with the tranny mounts and the recent power steering issues), I dont think I am ready to tackle the motor mounts or the valve cover gaskets. Both of those things can wait though, but its not pleasant to drive like that. Its not enjoyable for me to drive this car anymore in its current state.

I just didnt want to go bankrupt trying to get this car up to par for my mom, but it looks like thats going to be the case. <_<

At any rate, I am going to call the Toyota tech I know and see if he will clean the power steering pump screen and how much that will be... hopefully thats all it is. If not, I will see how much he will charge to replace the pump.

Thanks again.

[90LS400Lexus]

So your realistic range for fixing the LS400 that your mother wants so much, and you already have 4k into is... $440-600.

its up to you to decide whether that is worth it.

Depends on what you can realistically sell it for not repaired.

I am not sure, but I have been offered at least $2400 as-is. I know a guy that wants this car badly. See, there are not many around here. ;)

I paid $3200 for it in November 2007.... paid $300 to have it transported from Atlanta.... then another $400 in registration fees.

.... then $50 tranny mount, $350 in fan bracket bearing, then about 5 months of headaches when I had the PS leak.

So nearly $4500 in it, but I have put about 20K miles on it. I owe $2300 to the credit union for it, so if I can get $2400 for it, which I have been offered, I will be happy. Just convincing my mom this car is a slight money pit may convince her otherwise (and give her my Mercedes instead, which needs nothing at this point and its much easier to work on and service), but hey, like you have said, after the PS deal is taken care of and the engine mounts and valve cover gaskets, it should be good to go, HOWEVER, I am a little more upset to report that over the past week it has developed that everso dreaded front suspension clunk on certain bumps! My old 1990 LS did this and it about drove me bonkers. It started on it at the same mileage... go figure.... SO, add another thing to the list of annoyances. Again, I know its an old car, but my 38 year old Pontiac does not have these issues - no suspension clunks, no motor mount issues, no power steering problems (and it has the original pump! :) ) ... never had had any problems and I have owned it for 8 years. I did replace the valve cover gaskets, but that took all of 40 minutes.

[OmarG]

hmm, considering your current situation i guess it makes sense to get rid of the LS. Especially if you can get $2400 for it.

To be honest you have had a lot of probs considering it was only 20k miles.

I would like to see some pics of your other cars man!

[90LS400Lexus]

hmm, considering your current situation i guess it makes sense to get rid of the LS. Especially if you can get $2400 for it.

To be honest you have had a lot of probs considering it was only 20k miles.

I would like to see some pics of your other cars man!

Yeah, apparently the problems had just started when the PO decided to sell. I was the sucker that bought it in good faith, being the pushover I am. ;)

When I first bought it, nothing was that bad though... but it soon started having these issues and honestly I have babied this car... never over 70 mph, never over 3000 rpms, always dodge potholes... accelerate and stop smoothly, etc. Some people though abuse the crap out of their cars and never have problems. Go figure. <_<

The PS was only slightly leaking, the valve covers already were, because I could smell it when I drove the car home when the transporter truck dropped it off. The motor mounts were already bad too, because its had that vibration since I have owned it. I think I am the blame for the PS pump failing prematurely. I ran it too low on fluid a few times on mornings when it had leaked pretty low and I had no time to fill when I was late for work. Ironic it ended up being a $1.85 hose that had been leaking all of this time and I always thought it was seals in the pump. What was even more ironic is that it didnt start this recent hard to steer problem until we blocked off the idle-up valve and replaced the leaky hose... it was only a week after that is when that "Shudder" on low speed turns started, now this stiff steering has cropped up really quickly. It was out of the blue really. I am going to go ahead and get the screen cleaned if the Toyota tech I know will do it at a reasonable rate... I am hoping that is what the issue is. May get him to clean the screen or whatever in the steering rack too if it wont cost much more.

As requested... here are pics of my other cars... well here you go..... :)

1988 Mercedes 300SEL (159K miles). NO issues whatsoever. No leaks, no vibrations, etc. (not yet anyway... I have owned this car for 14 months) Also, this car has a "quieter" interior on rough roads than my LS does... this car is still 100% squeak and rattle free...

its not a powerhouse though as it only has a 3.0L inline 6-cylinder....

1973 Pontiac Grand Ville (134K miles). Owned 8 years... have ONLY had to replace the alternator, because it went bad when I got it wet when I washed the engine.... I have also replaced the master cylinder.... (sorry, this is not the best photo I have, but the best I can find for now... its not a beauty, but a good old classic car that was made in August 1972 (very early 1973 model). 455 V8 engine purrs like a kitten, the turbo 400 shifts flawlessly...

1972 Chevrolet Kingswood Estate (Caprice) station wagon... no leaks... power steering works perfect. :)

[90LS400Lexus]

Ah, the return line appears to have a slight kink in it *where its a bit too long... I wonder. <_<

[90LS400Lexus]

Ah, the return line appears to have a slight kink in it *where its a bit too long... I wonder. <_<

Does this look like it could be the problem. I am not sure, because it was like this before and there were no issues, other than the "shudder" it had. Wondering if there is even any use in trying to shorten this hose to make sure its not in a kink at all....

[90LS400Lexus]

No, I had someone hold the hose when it would be perfectly able to flow and it was still hard to turn. The pump is quiet, so I was told it was not likely the pump was bad. Likely the screen is clogged. I am going to get it to that tech this week to clean the screen if its not going to cost me a blooming fortune. If that dont help it, this car is going to meet its fate with a sledge hammer. <_<

[90LS400Lexus]

UPDATE.... its going into the shop this week. Hopefully someone can finally tell me what exactly is causing my steering hard to turn, whether its the screens that need to be clean or of the pump itself is ruined.

Its hard to turn most of the time now, but there was about 10 minutes of driving this evening when it was SO easy to turn. Its so strange how it can be so easy to turn one minute, then hard the next.

[Nickrservcelex]

So what ever happened what was it ? I’m having the same problem .