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Car dies when turning wheel at a stop

A

arlenok

New member
This just started happening recently but at first if I would try to floor it while sharply turning the steering wheel at a stop, the steering wheel would become extremely heavy for a second. Today, something similar happened, where I tried to floor it while at a stop and sharply turning the wheel and my car just died... What can this be?
 


Why would that make the car instantly die? Even if the alternator stopped working for a second, the battery is still there to provide any electricity. I was reading something about power steering pressure switches possibly causing this on other cars but I couldn't find any replacement power steering pressure switches online so I don't know if our cars have that.
 
like he said sounds like something is "slowing" down the engine at idle. bad pulleys on the front of the engine can cause this.

so take off the belt/ belts you never said what you drive BTW. and check all your pulleys. the a/c compressor can go bad, the water pump, the alt its self. spin them all by hand. if one dont spin freely or feels gritty as turned its bad.
 
I drive a 2007 base grand prix. That makes sense though, I guess I misunderstood the industrialfish.

But back to what I was saying, do these cars have power steering pressure switches?
 
nope. but if the idle dips down to low the p/s fails to work. feels heavy.


how many miles on it now? ever do a tune up? the check engine light on? or does it ever flash?

this used to happen to cop cars in the early 90's iirc, when they would slam on the brakes then try to turn the p/s would quit working due to engine rpm's being to low and cause a lot of cops to crash.
 


Have you looked to make sure nothing is in contact with the PS pulley/belt when doing a sharp turn? Does it run fine in a straight line or doing a normal turn?
 
Scottydoggs said:
nope. but if the idle dips down to low the p/s fails to work. feels heavy.


how many miles on it now? ever do a tune up? the check engine light on? or does it ever flash?

this used to happen to cop cars in the early 90's iirc, when they would slam on the brakes then try to turn the p/s would quit working due to engine rpm's being to low and cause a lot of cops to crash.
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85k miles, no tuneups since I bought it a few months ago but for all I know, it was never tuned up so I'm gonna get on that when I have some time off. No check engine light whatsoever. Only light that comes on is the TPMS one since I put new wheels on it that didn't have the monitors installed.

You know whats weird, the first time it happened, it was right after braking hard. I had to come to a full stop suddenly and turn and when I tried to turn the wheel it was incredibly heavy for a split second.


@ Elite6, it only happens from a stop, before actually going through with the turn. It happens when I'm stopped and suddenly turn the wheel and go full-throttle at the same time
 
So, a little update since I had time and an extra set of hands to help diagnose this:
I had someone turn the wheel all the way for me while I watched the belt/pulleys and I noticed that a tensioner seems loose/seizing up. By this, I mean that it makes a noise as soon as it tension is applied to it but it seems loose in that whenever tension is applied, it tilts a bit.
 


this has to be the tensioner on the alt bracket. its not 35 bucks by a long shot, closer to 75 even on line.

the pulley can be changed thats 20 bucks. but if the tensioner was bouncing all over its bad.
 
Scottydoggs said:
this has to be the tensioner on the alt bracket. its not 35 bucks by a long shot, closer to 75 even on line.

the pulley can be changed thats 20 bucks. but if the tensioner was bouncing all over its bad.
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Holy crap, I didn't even look at specifics for the part, just going off knowledge of changing tensioners for 20 years. That is pretty pricey, and isn't just a simple pulley on a spring like most are.

Maybe check to see if any of the bolts are loose first and letting it flex. Also it could be just the pulley, binding up and putting a lot of stress on the tensioner.
 
the tensioner dont come off the alt bracket, (need to get a new/used alt bracket)

i need one too. my pulley's bearing has worn the nub it rests/seats on away. so now the pulley sits loose on it. still works, but squeaks a bit at first start up of the day. then it goes away.

times like this i wish i have a good you pull it.
 
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