Strange One: If I Brake Really Hard, My Power Steering Assist Goes Stiff
08-21-15, 07:44 PM
#1
Strange One: If I Brake Really Hard, My Power Steering Assist Goes Stiff
Hey,
I have a strange one.
I have been having trouble with my power steering on my 95' SC400. The system freaks out occasionally and the pump will make noise and the fluid in the reservoir will become really turbulent to the point of shooting out 2 feet in the air. The pump is new, the rack is new, the HP hose is new. I have changed them multiple times (rack just once) in the 3 years I have had the car as this has been a problem that goes away, but occasionally comes back. I bled the system for 30 min last week and it finally felt normal and shut up.
The company I work for has a nice private exit off the highway. If it empty, I get up to speed and practice threshold breaking on the hard right at the end. Almost all breaking is done before the turn as it is crazy sharp. All breaking is pretty much done on the straight, before the turn. Nothing is loaded by the time I turn the wheel. Four days in a row, just as I am breaking hard, the power steering gets stiff and strange, just like it feels when it goes nuts and screams, and shoots out like a geyser. It almost stops working. It is back to normal, almost right away. The recent changes are the installation of LS400 calipers, pads, rotors.
Are my brakes somehow mysteriously tied to my power steering via some vacuum hose or something? Are the G Forces doing a job on my fluids? What could cause this?
How is breaking hard pausing my PS assist?
Also, how is air repeatedly getting into my PS system?
Thank You!!
SG
I have a strange one.
I have been having trouble with my power steering on my 95' SC400. The system freaks out occasionally and the pump will make noise and the fluid in the reservoir will become really turbulent to the point of shooting out 2 feet in the air. The pump is new, the rack is new, the HP hose is new. I have changed them multiple times (rack just once) in the 3 years I have had the car as this has been a problem that goes away, but occasionally comes back. I bled the system for 30 min last week and it finally felt normal and shut up.
The company I work for has a nice private exit off the highway. If it empty, I get up to speed and practice threshold breaking on the hard right at the end. Almost all breaking is done before the turn as it is crazy sharp. All breaking is pretty much done on the straight, before the turn. Nothing is loaded by the time I turn the wheel. Four days in a row, just as I am breaking hard, the power steering gets stiff and strange, just like it feels when it goes nuts and screams, and shoots out like a geyser. It almost stops working. It is back to normal, almost right away. The recent changes are the installation of LS400 calipers, pads, rotors.
Are my brakes somehow mysteriously tied to my power steering via some vacuum hose or something? Are the G Forces doing a job on my fluids? What could cause this?
How is breaking hard pausing my PS assist?
Also, how is air repeatedly getting into my PS system?
Thank You!!
SG
Last edited by Studiogeek; 08-21-15 at 09:50 PM.
08-22-15, 10:17 AM
#3
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Location: Arkansas
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Don't know the specifics but the power steering pump does have a vacuum line or two? Maybe a problem with variable assist intermittently messing up or vacuum problems pertaining to that. I'd check those or any other vacuum lines on the car, especially the one that goes to the power brake booster.
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