Originally Posted by 99custom

That sucks for sure. These PS pumps seem to be the weak link on these cars. I replaced my pump and lines about 5,000 miles ago. I went with an aftermarket one at first, and it died within 2 days. So i had my factory one rebuilt with OEM parts and everything works great again. Hopefully you can track down the exact problem.

Originally Posted by SC400Zulu

Good Lord. Never a happy day when our women get sick.

Will be watching to see what this could be. Learn something new and ish.

At east you have 2 other women to drive and this problem is still small, compared to power train and electrical issues.

Stay strong my friend.

Originally Posted by SC400Zulu

Exactly. Winter times and no heated garage means I'm stuck paying for labor. Not that I'm a mechanic/technician (that's next in my to do lists).

But simple stuff like brakes, wheels, suspension, some interior do-dads, etc.

But sure, keep me posted. This is an interesting problem on hand. Makes you wish this was the 50s-60s, before PS!

Originally Posted by SC400slide

Thread moved to maintenace.

I just got over my Power steering ghosts after replacing the rack...as to your issue, there is a possibility that the solenoid (or power steering pressure solenoid...?) OR the EVO (electronic variable orifice) is the culprit...both are the same solenoid mounted on the rack, on the drivers side. Nearly impossible to remove without removing the rack.

Test the solenoid...

Originally Posted by Studiogeek

The only downside is that the Co Op board does not allow repairs in the garage.

Originally Posted by Studiogeek

Hi,
I have some power steering drama. My power steering has been occasionally pulsing hard when I turn the wheel when sitting still or parking the car. If feels like the power assist is pulsing on and off quickly when i turn the wheel. This did not happen when driving the car above 5 or 10 MPH. Yesterday I started the car and there was a noise. The wheel was mostly hard to turn but got easy for a second at a time while making hella noise. While the car was running, I opened the reservoir to check fluid and it **** 2 feet up in the air. The ATF was seriously frothy. It was incredibly turbulent in there and I had to immediately put the cap back on and clean up. I made it to the shop and they said it was the pump, they replaced the pump and said it's doing the same thing. The rack is pretty new as I replaced it 6 months ago. They said the high pressure hose looked OK. They mentioned a solenoid on the rack but could not find one. If its doing the same thing with a new pump in, what could this be?

Originally Posted by red93sc

2nd replace both low pressure rubber return hoses, these may be dry rotted ( one attaching to pump reservoir and the other hose from the rack to the hard line by the engine block).
3rd. Check the vacuum assist switch. If the body of the switch moves on the metal attaching point or you cannot pull a vacuum seal on either ports unplugged. The switch is bad. replace switch or plug the line and hook the vacuum lines together to by pass the switch.
I replaced my switch and the car steers like new.

Originally Posted by GSXMike

I also replaced the hard lines and rubber lines that go from the reservoir to the cooler lines in the wheel well and then the one line that goes to the rack. I tried to just replace the rubber hoses with some rubber hose at the local auto parts store but the bend is too sharp and the hose was kinking so I had no choice but to suck it up and get those hard lines and specifically formed rubber hoses from the stealership which was like 180 bucks if I recall correctly. They wouldn't sell me just the rubber hoses. One of them it came with a barbed banjo fitting pushed on it already.

It sucks how they don't sell just the rubber hoses. After all was said and done though there is finally no leaks. New ps reservoir cap too cause the old one the rubber was brittle and fluid leaking past it.

One thing I did not do which I was not aware of at the time was take apart the actual reservoir and remove the filter screen and clean it then reassemble so that is in the list to do one day. There is a thread on here, someone did it and posted pics (thank you to him for that).

I also had the high pressure line rebuilt, they basically cut off the banjo fittings and braze them onto new tubing that has new fittings crimped on new rubber hose.

The end result is no leaks and my wallet empty. The steering wheel is not as easy to turn at idle as before even though I kept the sensors and vac lines like oem, but I'm tired of trying to get it absolutely perfect. It feels new and tight and no leaks so I'm happy with it.

Originally Posted by Studiogeek

The vacuum assist switch and the solenoid on the rack are two different parts right? Or are they the same part with two names?

Originally Posted by SC400slide

They are both different. The solenoid is otherwise known as the "EVO" or PS pressure solenoid. The vacuum assist switch is more likely to go out than the solenoid but it still is possible that the solenoid failed. Your PS system will do really odd things if the solenoid isn't working right, as I've learned.