Loose Power Steering

[dwmcqueen]

I siphoned out my old power steering fluid and put in a bottle (or enough to fill it up) of older Valvoline Semi_Syn ATF (car calls for ATF in PS).

The power steering seems loose - could this be a reason?

 

[acewiza]

What vehicle are we talking about here?

 

[dwmcqueen]

1995 Millenia. Loose in that it takes a lot of turning the wheel to turn the car (and the steering wheel has a bit of play before actually turning the wheels). No noise or anything.

I noticed the same thing on a 1998 Ford Escort with similar ATF. I think it got better there, or I may have added LubeGuard and that tightened it up.

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

The steering wheel is connected to the steering gear (or rack) physically, which is connected to the hub assembly by some physical means. There is ABSOLUTLY no way that changing the PS fluid can change the number of turns the steering wheel takes to get to full lock. You can run the car with NO fluid in the PS pump and the wheel will take the same amount of turns to go full lock. Changing the fluid in the PS pump can affect pump performance and make the car easier or harder to steer.

Typically hydraulic steering systems are not DOT approved and do not come installed on new vehicles. Hydraulic steering systems are mostly found on equipment and off-road applications.

You didn’t affect the PS system as you only took fluid out of the reservoir, so as long as the pump wasn’t turning while you did this no air entered the system. As long as the pump doesn’t lose its prime you can remove as much fluid as you want. Might want to do the siphon/refill once a year or whatever you feel is a good interval, to insure consistent PS performance.

 

[dwmcqueen]

That's the answer I was looking for! I was a little lost since I just picked up this case and immediately changed the PS fluid - so I have no gauge as to what it was before...

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

What do you mean by loose? Normally loose is a mechanical situation such as a worn steering gear, worn tie-rod ends, etc. The power steering pump would just make noise or produce low pressure and make it difficult to steer.