Most likely, due to the years between the original posting and the following information, Mr. John Ng won't benefit from my input. However, anyone who has a similar problem with their Lexus might.
As with so many other Lexus owners, I was losing my power steering. Most of us found that, if we stopped the car and restarted the engine the P/S would be okay for a while. As time went on, the problem would recur more and more frequently. Since my Lexus IS 350 was well beyond any warranty, and the Lexus service department said they didn't know what was causing the problem, I decided to tackle the problem on my own.
Having some experience with military computer troubleshooting, I started with the electrical connectors going to the P/S rack. In computer maintenance, we had learned that simply de-mating and re-mating an electrical connector or device would, in the majority of the cases, eliminate the problem. The reason was because of oxidation, perhaps invisible to the naked eye.. The connections in the electrical component would make a better contact after sliding the pins in and out of the female part of the plug. Therefore, simply cleaning the connectors and reconnecting them solved the problem 90 percent of the time.
Once the panel that protects the bottom part of the engine compartment is removed, the P/S rack is exposed. There are three electrical connectors that are easy to reach on the front side of the rack. The center one of those three has four very small pins. Eventually, I found that the pins in that connector were making poor contact. Why? It is probably a factory defect. That is why the oxidation would recur over time. The fix was done by gingerly scuffing the inside of the female part of the connector and inserting a very thin, small strand of copper wire. That made for a snug connection. It has been a month now and the P/S is performing as good as new. If the problem ever does come back, I'll make another posting.
A dealership would never do this kind of repair. They would remove and replace the P/S rack. Then the P/S would be great for years. However, the problem would eventually return since the replacement P/S rack would have the very same type of pins within that particular connector.
ANYONE WANTING MORE DETAILED INFORMATION CAN CONTACT ME AT linvel@earthlink.net
