steering

[egreen lexus]

Sat night as my daughter and I were driving home from the beach on I-6 from Tillamook to Portland, at some point about half way home I noticed the steering became a little harder in the curves. I thought it strange but the car seemed okay so I kept driving. As we got into town, the first turn I had to make I noticed the power was gone and had to muscle the steering wheel a bit. As we turned into the driveway I had to muscle it again. I popped the hood and checked the serpentine belt, its good. Checked the power steering fluid, its fine. No drips on the cement  below the car so nothing dripping. I googled signs of the rack and pinion going out, the car didnt show any of those signs...no shaking, car wasnt pulling to either side, nothing dragging...the car drove just fine all the way back, the only issue is turning the wheel at slow speed is a little difficult but not impossible. The plan is to take it to Les Schwab in the morning to have them take a look. They just replaced the front calipers and brake pads and balanced the front wheels Friday before driving to the beach. Anyone have an idea of what is going on?? Im thinking must be the rack and pinion even though I was looking at it while up in the air at Les Schwab on Friday and it looked fine. Im guessing its the original rack and pinion on the car?! 

[Bykfixer]

If I recall correct, yes the o'rings in the rack can go bad on these cars. Sometimes there is no leak because the "boot" isn't full enough to burst it or it isn't brittle thereby leaking even small amounts of fluid. 

It could be the power steering pump pressure sensor as well. From what I've read a symptom of that is the engine rpm's falling when turning the steering wheel. Once it has completely failed it may cause the engine revs to fall enough to stall the engine. 

 

[egreen lexus]

Took the car to Les Schwab, the tech said the rack and pinion looks fine. He looked into the fluid res with a flash light and said the fluid isnt moving like it should, so its the power steering pump. The power steering pressure sensor just lets the car know when you are very low on steering fluid, which it isnt. The engine rpms never fell when turning the steering wheel, there were no signs whatsoever, it just stopped working. I am still driving it to work till I can get the pump replaced. Its a little harder to steer but I am managing. From what I have read as long as the res is holding fluid you can drive it...its when it all leaks out and is empty is when you shouldnt. 

[dcfish]

Isn't there a filter screen that clogs up ? I remember something like this on the first gen LS400. 

[egreen lexus]

Update on power steering issue....took car to Les Schwab for my powers steering replacement appt. Tech says to me I dont know why Im doing this, we dont replace power steering pumps. I replied I was a little shocked too but they said they would so here I am. He said I have only done a couple of these but will do my best. 3 hours later the new power steering pump was in place and working. The tech said the rack and pinion looks fine. I dont know if I got lucky or what but thankfully it works great now and I wont have to worry about it for a while. 

I also bought a new air cleaner set up. Took out all of the plastic and now have the air cleaner exposed and sucking up all kinds of air. I can really hear it when I step on the gas on the freeway. So far so good.

I also just replaced the serpentine belt tensioner pulley, it was supposedly replaced last January by a shop for the last owner but when my friend and I pulled it out it was definitely the original pulley. So this shop replaced the serpentine belt and told the old lady he replaced the belt tensioner pulley but didnt. Damn these shops that take advantage of people who dont know any better. I hear of this more and more. Does anyone have integrity any more??? I have heard so many stories from women who take their car to the shop and have charges they didnt ask for...and supposedly new parts they didnt ask for. I think its sickening that shops take advantage of people. Talk about bad karma!!

[egreen lexus]

A couple of weeks ago I go out to my car to go to work and the battery is dead. Thankfully I have good jumper cables and an extra car right now so I was able to jump start it. As I was driving to work I only got about 2 blocks away from home and thought, hey, what if my battery is dead again after work? I dont know if I can find anyone to give me a jump or not?? So I called work and said I would be late, then headed to Les Schwab to have my battery tested. They said it was too low to test. So I had them put a new battery in. As the tech was taking the clamps off of the old battery I noticed he had left the engine idling. He then removed the clamps and started to go get the new battery.  I asked him, is it normal practice to leave the engine idling while doing this? He said oh yeah, its fine. So he was gone for about 5 min, then returned with the new battery, put the clamps on, then tightened them. Thankfully since the old battery was a Les Schwab battery they gave me a big discount. The old battery was supposed to last 7 years but only lasted 5 years. So I drove to work from there. After getting home from work I start to google if its safe to let the engine idle while disconnecting the battery. Google says if the car runs on the alternator, and the alternator spikes, it can damage the electrical system. Its a 50/50 chance. So I called Les Schwab the next day and asked for a manager. The assist manager answers and I asked him if its normal practice for the techs to leave the engine idling while replacing the battery? He said why do you ask? I said I watched a tech replace my battery and left the engine idling, do you know what can happen if the engine is running off of the alternator?? He said yes I know its very risky. I asked him are you prepared to replace a customers electrical system if it falters because your tech was too lazy to turn the engine off while replacing the battery?? He said no we do not want to do that. He asked me who the tech was, I said I dont want to get anyone in trouble, just please tell everyone its not good practice to do this. He agreed and said he would make an announcement and thanked me for the call and letting him know. Im sure all he had to do was look at the work orders to see who replaced a car battery in the last couple of days. So now my car has a new battery, new serpentine belt and belt tensioner pully, new timing belt, and new power steering pump. 

[egreen lexus]

Next project:  Replace the door speakers. They sound okay but can only handle so much power before they start to crackle. The previous owner replaced the stock stereo with an after market stereo that supposedly has 45X4 watts of power?!  Does anyone know how to remove the door panels on the GS300? I have removed door panels before in other cars I have owned to replace the speakers but this one is a little different and not so easy to remove. I have removed every screw I can find so far...behind the door handle, under the electric door lock panel, around the door edges, but it still wont come up?!?! Either something is catching, there is another screw hiding, or i just need to pull up harder??!! And Im a little suprised these are only 4in speaker holes?! You would think Lexus would make room for bigger speakers. The general rule for speakers is to make sure they can handle 2 times the power the amp delivers to make sure you dont blow them. However, I dont know the power of the stock amp in the trunk?! And I have a feeling most Lexus owners are older and or dont crank the music like I like to. So if anyone out there has knowledge of how to remove door panels on a 94 GS300 I would appreciate all and any advice. Thank you.