Thread: power steering

how bad is it to run out of power steering fluid and still drive the car?

Originally Posted by GR8racingfool

Its not good on things, but for sure not advised.

Depends on how long is long.

Usually when it gets low it will let you know by starting to squeal and howl. If anything, it will cause the pump to over heat and burn up if ran empty or dry for too long. I can go into more detail about what parts would get damaged or fail if you want me to.

~F~

well, i think i perhaps fried the pump... on my way to work this moring, i noticed that it got hard to steer. when i got to work, (total trip is about 30 miles) had no power steering at all. (i could see fluid in the reservoir but it didnt touch the dipstick) at lunch i went a few blocks to the autozone. filled up the power steering. the pump whined like mad, until the fluid apparently disappeared... so its qieter now, but likely has little fluid in it

Hmmmm if it lost fluid then there has to be a leak in the steering system. Have you noticed any fluid on the ground? Your best bet is to watch the fluid level for a few days and if it gets harder to steer then add more and track the leak down. But a power steering system doesn't usually use fluid unless there is a leak somewhere.

Originally Posted by Zef_66

I would keep filling it up. You may have got air in the system and now, when you fill it up, it will use some as the air is purged out.

But....the fluid didn't magically disappear. Find out where it is leaking. But if the pump is quiet and you can steer, it didn't fry the pump.

it's pretty obvious that there's a leak somewhere but it must me one heck of a leak, as when i left home this morning it was steering fine, then when i got of the expressway, it was turning pretty hard. when sitting still/barely moving, it is almost impossible to turn the wheel. -- it was whining some, but not much, really. when i added fluid, i turned the wheel lock to lock a few times to get air out, but it never did turn from one side to the other really smooth. still was a bit bumpy-- along with LOUD pump whining. i drove half a block or so, the LOUD whining went away, but so did the somewhat smoother steering. it's just as hard steering as it was before i added fluid.

check the bellows on your inner tie rods, they hold a ton of fluid before a drip occurs, if there is air in the system you have to purge it, which is done by turning the wheel lock to lock several times

eh, not sure where it's leaking, but it certainly doesnt seem to be the return line, unless its not hooked up at all..

filled the fluid up again (gee how bad is it that the fluid was all bubbly?) and turned the car on... steady stream of power steering fluid near where the line goes into the rack on the drivers side.

i suppose it's possible that the rack is gone, but the p/o replaced the rack about 50K ago. hoping its not that, cuz its stuck up @ my work, an hour away from home, no way i can work on it there... so it's likely gonna get limped over to car-x down the street

If its leaking at the connection were the high pressure line does into the rack there is an o-ring on the end of the line thats used to seal the connection and if thats bad it brittle as soon as pressure hits it its gonna leak. I'm laying money on the line being the problem. if it is a new line shouldnt run more then 50 bucks. why skimp on something so cheap. I had a small fire on one of my last gp's cause the same o-ring was bad. But I caugh the fire intime.

Plus its rare sp? to see a rack go bad after 50k I ran mine dry for a month and its still working good.

whatever went wrong happened either while the car was sitting overnite, or happened just after inital startup... was cold too... but not below 0

GAAAAH

it's the return line that was replaced in october= out of warranty!


GAAAAAHHHH

Originally Posted by GR8racingfool

X2

If its low, then it will cause problems, hard to run them 100% dry, but if you filled it up, and it stopped and all is well now steering wise, then the pump is fine.

I do agree, that you need to search for the leak. it can be tough to find. What I do is go for a drive, getting everything nice and warm, then back home, with the car up on jack stands I'm under it looking for it to seep, or drip. I will clean the area really good, not leaving a trace of build up, or fluid behind, then then go drive again.

Back home, back under it, I will look again at the same spot, then for sure you can see where its truly leaking from, and not just making a guess.

I know for a fact, that when the fluid is cold, the pump will wine a little till it warms up enough, thats normal for most any car, also depends on the pumps as each one is a little different.

Currently right now, the GF's '97 GTP has a pretty good leak. Its been leaking since the end of fall, and we tried to do the Lucas PS fluid gel stuff, worthless! The pump is a reman from O'Reillys with a lifetime warranty. Its leaking from the shaft seal on the pump. Its not throwing the fluid with the pulley or the belt, but its dumping it out below. Its getting returned to O'Reillys, and I have already boughten a replacement with 2 lines from ED. Just need to install them, and clean up the mess.

My car...when the weather started to turn, and I put it away for the winter, it has a pretty good leak its self. My car some how got a cracked reservoir. I need to order one from Ed as well, because "nobody sells just the reservoir" any more.

Her car will be easy...my car is going to suck.

~F~

eek sounds like you will have some fun.

i'm hoping that the line nut on mine is just loose, but the bafoons that installed the line, ran the line BETWEEN the dp and the sway bar (under the dp, over the sway bar) with a piece of rubber line for cushion... engine movement = force against return line= pulling on fitting... either cracked the line or made the nut loosen

!

Or how the tools at the shop ran the line it could have rubed on the dp and made a hole but if it did u would see the fluid dripping from the hole area. I had that happen once before were i had a pressure line changed and the show ran it to close to the serp belt tensioner and it rubbed a whole in the line and the shop covered it at there cost cause it was there mistake.