So ive read through the Power steering pump sticky but i dont see anyone having the issue i am having.

I was driving to Seattle on I-5 30 mins into the drive i notice my steering is getting harder to turn thus realizing i have no power steering.

I get there park the car and spend 2 hours in gameworks. when i come back and start the car up the power steering is now working again. The fluid is full i always have made sure that it is. Now ive been driving it in the city no long trips and have had no issues.

My idea is that the Fan assembly is shot and on long drives my power steering pump was overheating causing itself to shut off. Im hoping this is the issue because the fan is 130$ as a pump is 500$.

Do you guys think im headed in the right direction or is my power steering slowly just going to crap out?

Thanks for any input

Cheers

 

If you need a new fan, buy this and splice the connection.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SPAL-...#ht_500wt_1012

if you were driving at speed, i don't believe the power steering overheated because when going fast, the pump reduces it's output and also seattle is pretty cool year round.

 

I had a similiar experience. The PS would become difficult, shut the car off, when I go to drive again it's fine....welll this started happening to me 3-4 days ago until last night when the PS motor would not shut off and ended up close to having a fire...smoke billowed from the bonnet and I could hera the high pitch whine of the PS motor.
Check out my post on stock promlems/issues for R50, look for power steering pump fuse location, within this post are images of the fallout I experienced. Not sure what caused this, I have posted my query to NAM with numerous people reading, but no answers.

I'm not saying this will happen to you, but our symptoms are very similiar.

Let me know how you make out, maybe between the both of us we can find the root cause for this issue.

Mark

 

I just had the same thing yesterday. I had been driving for about 45 minutes in bumper-to-bumper traffic and suddenly noticed te steering starting to become more difficult. It did not fail completely, because I drove for about 20 more minutes, but the steering got progressively worse as I drove. When I got homw, I had a heck of a time getting the car parked at the curb. The PS by that time felt completely shot, So, I shut down the car, and noticed no noise.I had dinner and bitched to everyone about the car, and decided I had to move it because of street sweeping the next day. This was about t-3 hours later. The car now owrked perfectly fine, as though NOTHING had been wrong. I parked it in the driveway last night, and have not tried to start it again or even turn the wheel. I took the wife's car to work today, and have been researching the problem since about 3:30 PDT. These symptoms sound exactly like the OP's. I've been trying to contact my favorite INDIes in the area, but no luck so far.

ANYONE KNOW MORE?

Thanks

 

My MINI just developed the exact same problem... My usual commute is 8 miles mornings and evenings... No problems to and from work, but when I drive more than about 20 minutes I sometimes lose power steering... Not all the time... Doesn't matter whether the A/C is on or off, at freeway speed or in traffic, if it's hot outside or not... It has me baffled as I just had it in the shop for another matter and asked my mechanic to check it out... Nothing wayward found... Looks like there is a new P/S pump in my future...

I do love the car, but it is $1000 me to death...

 

I purchased a used ps pump 275$ my fan was fine changing it out soon. It's a problem in the electrical part of the pump. It's overheating so it shuts itself off.

 

If you take a gander at the sticky or search for power steering pump failures (using google to search NAM, not the built in search cause it sucks) you'll find many people with similar problems that all of you are experiencing. If you turn your AC on high and get under the car you should see whether the fan moves or not. If it doesn't move then it may be gunked up and in need of replacing. However, if your power steering is failing intermittently then you need to replace the pump. It has nothing to do with how well you've treated it with power steering fluid changes or the fan working. They just fail because of poor engineering. Find a refurb pump from http://www.bba-reman.com/catalogue/D...ledProduct=920 or a new pump from http://www.waymotorworks.com/oem-pow...ring-pump.html and follow the steps here to replace it yourself. It will safe you a lot of money doing it yourself. http://www.billswebspace.com/MiniR53PSPFanDuctDIY.htm

 

I would really recommend replacing that damn pump soon, as with my MINI, It ended up catching fire only two days after I sporadically lost power steering.
I don't mean to scare you but replacing a $500 pump now versus replacing the burnt wiring harness later is worth it....trust me

 

+1 i have had very good experience with BBA-Reman .

 

I plan on replacing my pump and fan using the instructions given above. Is there any need to replace the pressure and suction lines ? I have no leaks. Also - should one replace with a refurbed pump or new ?

 

The hoses are run "on condition" so to speak....so inspect them...mo cuts, chafes, or leaks, they are fine.
new or refurbished...comes down to $$ and your tolerance of risk...
The reman pumps have the hydrolic side rebuilt, and the motor cleaned/new brushes installed...the motors are not replaced/rewound, the electronics are not replaced..hense the higher failure rate....if you get a rebuilt/reman pump that was removed for a leak, but working fine, you are good to go most likely...but you a get one that was sent in with an intermitant issue due to the electrical side...you might get to swap out 2 or 3 pumps...but if you diy it.."free" time, some folks chance the $200 vs $500....

 

This type of intermittent pump behavior is often associated with high-mileage EHPS systems and the pump's electric motor brush dust (highly conductive carbon) finding its way into the controller circuit card that is internal to the motor, causing a variety of strange behaviors. This problem can't really be mitigated effectively by tearing down and cleaning out the motor. Take the safe road and have the pump/motor replaced -- and might as well do the fan while you're at it.

 

Finally! Someone who truly understands what the problem is....

I've taken a few of these apart, blown the dust out thoroughly, flattened off the commutator and had them last pretty well. BUT, it is a DC electric motor, and they don't last forever - the brushes wear, the commutator wears out, and they need to be replaced when they do.

Best thing to do is just plan for it.