sporty85

Hey guys i could use some help with a problem I've been having with a car a just recently bought. Its a 1996 Lexus ES300.

A couple weeks ago the power steering became difficult when turning the wheel 45 degrees to the left or right and has since gotten consistently worse throughout the entire turning process. I'm guessing maybe its the power steering pump but the only sound the car makes at all is a slight ticking sound somewhere under the engine when it's idling or driving at city speeds of 35mph or less. A mechanic who looked at the car before we purchased it said the ticking was normal on cars this old? I don't know if thats true or not but i had read somewhere on your site the power steering pump might tick when going bad? What steps should i take to fix this problem as cheap as possible? If it is the power steering pump is there a list somewhere of which ones are compatible with my make/model? Advance and Auto Zone had a lot listed on there website but the cheaper ones say may/may not fit? Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

PFB

Although its not that easy to do, the best thing to do at this point is to temporeraly remove the power steering belt, start the car and see if the ticking noise is still there.

That will also allow you to check the condition of the belt in case it's worn out and slipping.

Phillip

vintagelex

On these cars (1992-1996) it's important that the powersteering pump is working, because the cooling fan is hydraulic and powered by the power steering fluid. I believe in 1997 they switched over to electric fans. So I wouldn't run the car with the pump disconnected for more than a few minutes.