Please Help! Anyone Know Where I Can Buy A New Or Used Steering Ra

[90LS400Lexus]

We got the screens cleaned alittle while ago... yeah they were pretty clogged up and were even dirtier than the ones on my solenoid, however, I think mine had been cleaned before and I bet the one on this 94 LS parts car had not been cleaned before. Anyway, they cleaned up very nicely with the 3m adhesive remover and a toothbrush! :) Also, we tested the solenoid with wires and a battery and presto, it clicked like its supposed to! :) The one on mine is dead... it would not click at all, which is what led me to believe mine was junk and hoping this is why I have such heavy steering. It literally poured rain all day long and we didnt get to do it, but at least its ready to be installed. I already have the car on ramps and I am going to leave the car here tomorrow and my dad is going to change it... then when I get home from work I am going to go ahead and try to get the PS reservoir off and clean the screen in the bottom of the pump.

I will update all of this when I can.

PS - the irony is now I think my mom wants my Mercedes instead of the LS and I may be selling the LS afterall. Oh well.

Thanks again to our forum member, "Billydpowell" ... its great to have caring forum members on here. I had no luck anywhere getting one of these and he was right there and took his time and got me one from a crashed 94 LS400... thanks to his nephew as well for taking it off!

Tony you will want to "wash" the screens and get them clean.

AND

you might want to read this... I read his (just his) comments from start to finish and found out some good info about (deep)cleaning the PS pump... spend a little time and check this.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...eering+solenoid

[90LS400Lexus]

ugh, no it didnt help it. :( My dad put it on there today since the weather was super nice (despite damaging winds). When I got home, I refilled with fluid and there is no change at all. Also one thing he had to do is cut the wires and swap the connection ends, because the solenoid off of the 1994 LS400 has a different electrical plug than the 1991 LS400. Strange.

Well, anyway, I know my old one was bad, because it was not clicking when powered up... this one does, but its not made a difference. I guess what I will do now is get the car in my grandpas garage tomorrow evening and get the reservoir off of the pump and clean that screen. If thats not it, the only things left is the actual pump is shot or the rack itself... both of which I cannot afford to replace, so I will have to sell it at a huge loss.

Thanks again Billy for the solenoid... it was worth a try... I was sure that was the problem. :(

[curiousB]

Probably a steering rack is far too expensive to replace for a car of this age but a pump shouldn't be too bad. Look at it another way. Either sell it as is with an obvious steering defect and you'll be lucky to get salvage value for her. If it is the pump and you replace it you're in a totally different valuation scenario.

Maybe you could get a used one from a salvage yard for under $100 and with all the work you've done on the pump lately you should be more than capable of changing it out.

If this death by a million repairs is getting to you I'd sell the car though as with a vehicle of this age there is bound to be "the next repair" pretty soon.

[billydpowell]

ugh, no it didnt help it. :( My dad put it on there today since the weather was super nice (despite damaging winds). When I got home, I refilled with fluid and there is no change at all. Also one thing he had to do is cut the wires and swap the connection ends, because the solenoid off of the 1994 LS400 has a different electrical plug than the 1991 LS400. Strange.

Well, anyway, I know my old one was bad, because it was not clicking when powered up... this one does, but its not made a difference. I guess what I will do now is get the car in my grandpas garage tomorrow evening and get the reservoir off of the pump and clean that screen. If thats not it, the only things left is the actual pump is shot or the rack itself... both of which I cannot afford to replace, so I will have to sell it at a huge loss.

Thanks again Billy for the solenoid... it was worth a try... I was sure that was the problem. :(

glad I could help you, hope the pump cleaning does it for you.

[90LS400Lexus]

EDIT-

EDIT - I just realized that there are holes in the pulley center that allows access to the bolt, but I took a bright light and shined down in the reservoir and the screen LOOKS clean unless the little holes are clogged. ?? I dont see any big chunks of anything.

I just cant figure out why my steering is so stiff at all speeds. If it were the pump, I would think I would hear a noise from it.

[90LS400Lexus]

Well, here is my old solenoid.... as you can see the end had to be cut off and placed on the solenoid off of the 94 LS400.