'99 Legacy Outback power steering hesitation

[Buddy]

A month ago I had 4 new tires put on and a computer analyzed 4
wheel alignment done. A week or so later, I had 4 new rotors &
pads put on at Meineke.

Trouble is that since that was all done, the power steering has
gotten 'sticky.' I have a dirt drive and when I turn the wheel to
back around is when I first notice that the turning the steering
wheel feels like it goes 10 degrees easy and then 3 degrees very
hard so that when you turn through the stiff part, I end up
over-powering through the next 10 degrees.

I notice this while driving mostly when I make 90 degree turns in
either direction. This is going to get dangerous when snow comes.

My regular mechanic doesn't really know Subarus and I dread going
to the dealer. However, he recalls work he did on a Ford pickup's
PS that there was a small one-way valve in the line - sort of
hearing aid battery size. Do Subarus have this?

The belt is tight and no slipping sounds are ever heard; the fluid
level is proper both hot & cold; no vibration is seen on the PS
pump; all was working fine before the brakes were fixed.

TIA for any help.

 

[Buddy]

here's Buddy's last post ->:

A month ago I had 4 new tires put on and a computer analyzed 4 wheel
alignment done. A week or so later, I had 4 new rotors & pads put on at
Meineke.

Trouble is that since that was all done, the power steering has gotten
'sticky.' I have a dirt drive and when I turn the wheel to back around
is when I first notice that the turning the steering wheel feels like it
goes 10 degrees easy and then 3 degrees very hard so that when you turn
through the stiff part, I end up over-powering through the next 10 degrees.

I notice this while driving mostly when I make 90 degree turns in either
direction. This is going to get dangerous when snow comes.

My regular mechanic doesn't really know Subarus and I dread going to the
dealer. However, he recalls work he did on a Ford pickup's PS that there
was a small one-way valve in the line - sort of hearing aid battery
size. Do Subarus have this?

The belt is tight and no slipping sounds are ever heard; the fluid level
is proper both hot & cold; no vibration is seen on the PS pump; all was
working fine before the brakes were fixed.

TIA for any help.

Not much input, so let's fly this balloon again. I guess Subs
don't have many power steering problems.

--

 

[AS]

A coworker once came into the office saying that her minivan had power
steering problems, that in some curves, the steering would get hard and
the car uncontrollable. She had recently replaced tires as well.

Upon inspection, the power steering looked right. I asked her to drive
in circles in the parking lot and found that the tires she had were the
wrong type for the minivan, and that during cornering, the wheel would
touch the ground causing the "problem".

Her mechanic had quoted $1200 for the replacement of the rack and pinion.

I doubt this is your case.

Good luck!

 

[Buddy]

here's AS's last post ->:

A coworker once came into the office saying that her minivan had power
steering problems, that in some curves, the steering would get hard and
the car uncontrollable. She had recently replaced tires as well.

Upon inspection, the power steering looked right. I asked her to drive
in circles in the parking lot and found that the tires she had were the
wrong type for the minivan, and that during cornering, the wheel would
touch the ground causing the "problem".

Her mechanic had quoted $1200 for the replacement of the rack and pinion.

I doubt this is your case.

Good luck!

I appreciate your response. My problem happens even when I just
turn the wheel while standing still.

Worse yet, the problem now appears to be intermittent. The morning
I went to see my mechanic, it showed no symptoms.

At $60/hr., I loath going to the dealer.

--

 

[AS]

The power steering system is rather simple in nature:

It has a pump that has a relief and a flow control valve. It these were
to stick open you would have hard steering when at low engine RPMs.

The rack and pinion also has a control valve.

If I were you, I would try replacing the power steering fluid first.
Empty the reservoir, fill it with clean fluid. Operate the power
steering stop to stops several times. Empty the reservoir. Repeat
until all the fluid removed from the tank is as clean as the one you
are putting in. I am sure there are other ways to do this, but I would
hate to disconnect hoses etc.

Good luck

 

[Buddy]

here's AS's last post ->:

A coworker once came into the office saying that her minivan had power
steering problems, that in some curves, the steering would get hard and
the car uncontrollable. She had recently replaced tires as well.

Upon inspection, the power steering looked right. I asked her to drive
in circles in the parking lot and found that the tires she had were the
wrong type for the minivan, and that during cornering, the wheel would
touch the ground causing the "problem".

Her mechanic had quoted $1200 for the replacement of the rack and pinion.

I doubt this is your case.

Good luck!

I ended up taking it the Subaru dealer. I ended up replacing the
steering u-joint. Actually came across a post in alt.autos that
referenced a white paper for a steering problem on an Impala:
http://impalahq.naioa.com/TSB/TSB01-02-32-001A.html

which sorta 'steered' me towards the u-joint problem.

$370.00 later and it's no longer a problem.

--

 

[Les Gray]

Hi,

I seem to be experiencing a similar problem to you. Last week I noticed that
the steering was getting notchy, similar to how you describe, but it only
happens when I first drive the car in the morning. It seems to be when the
system is cold, and the symptom disappears after about a minute.

At first I thought it may be bad fluid but suspected that the pump may be
giving up. But, I've just read this post and noticed that you suggest it may
be a universal joint. Is that fix still working for you? If so can you point
me in the direction of the part that you changed, then I'll investigate that
too.

I have a 2000 Forester (I'm in the UK, not sure if it is the same car
rebadged), with 98000 miles on the clock. I've not yet performed any
investigation other than to check the oil level (which was OK when cold).
Just doing a bit of research first.

Any help will me much appreciated.

Thanks

Les Gray.

 

[Les Gray]

Hi,

I seem to be experiencing a similar problem to you. Last week I noticed
that the steering was getting notchy, similar to how you describe, but it
only happens when I first drive the car in the morning. It seems to be
when the system is cold, and the symptom disappears after about a minute.

At first I thought it may be bad fluid but suspected that the pump may be
giving up. But, I've just read this post and noticed that you suggest it
may be a universal joint. Is that fix still working for you? If so can you
point me in the direction of the part that you changed, then I'll
investigate that too.

I have a 2000 Forester (I'm in the UK, not sure if it is the same car
rebadged), with 98000 miles on the clock. I've not yet performed any
investigation other than to check the oil level (which was OK when cold).
Just doing a bit of research first.

Any help will me much appreciated.

Thanks

Les Gray.

Just a quick update.

It appears that my problem was simply a slightly loose drive belt. Soon
after posting my previous comment It started to squeal quite badly soon
after start up. On inspection I saw that it looked old and cracked and
appeared a little looser than I'd expect, so I tightened it a little and the
problem seems to have gone away. I'll pick up a new belt this week as I
suspect that the old one hasn't got long to live.

Les Gray