Hi guys, I have a small problem with my powersteering system. At engine idle and at any speed the powersteering seems to fail. It feels like driving a car with manual steering. So when Accelerating and when cruising at a higher rpm the steering goes back to normal. But as soon as I release the throttle, the steering wheel becomes extremely heavy. My alternator light (battery light) also comes up when trying to force the wheel to turn when it fails. Has anyone ever come across a problem like this?

 

It sounds like your serpentine belt is bad and needs replacement. A slipping belt will lower alternator output if it is loose/worn enough. Same goes with the power steering pump. Replace the belt and check the PS fluid and you should be good to go.

 

Check the power steering fluid first to see if it is low. Do you have a low idle issue? Is your belt slipping be chance? The alternator light comes on only at a stand still running or when breaking to a light? If your Idle air control valve isn't working properly that can cut out the horsepower needed to move the pump fast enough to get pressure. Is your alternator charging correctly also? Info when you get back thanks....

 

Okay, well i found out the problem. In the worst way possible. I guess my alternator light was not telling me a lie. I Started my car up and drove off just fine, until I turned and all the power shut off in my car and could not get it started again. Luckily I was still in a parking lot. Unfortunately I left my multimeter at home and couldn't test the alternator there so I couldn't tell you volt or amp output. Im pretty sure it is the alternator but I will test it before ripping it out of the engine.

To get home I had my cousin charge my car through his for about 25 minutes and that gave it enough juice for me to drive home.

 

Nice nice if your car just dies while driving and the light was already on yeah definitely replace the alternator no testing needed. Diodes inside it are fried. Once replaced back to normal. Good thing you found out what it was.

 

its your alternator buddy! to find out if your alternator is bad is to have the car started after a jump then remove one lead either side of the battery if the car shuts off its the alternator, the alternator should be able to produce enough juice on its own....

 

Well Yeah. Started another post stating that I have a charging issue. I thought the alternator was bad too... Until I replaced it with a brand new one. The voltage keeps up around 14.4v when the car is just turned on, but as soon as the car warms up or when I put a load on the alternator, the voltage drops and gets stuck at that voltage. So if it drops to 12.5v it will never go higher than that ever again until I restart the car. No TSBs on the problem and not a whole lot of information about this from alldata so im running out of options.

 

Try cleaning your grounding points first as it won't cost you anything, but time. Is the battery ok?

 

I have multiple grounds leading from various engine bay areas to the battery. So im pretty sure the grounding should be sufficient. Under the suspicion of my battery being bad I used my cousins Brand new yellow top and still its acting horrible. It might have something to do with the three wire connector going to the alternator though. I took it off once to check if it is clean (wiped off a little corrosion) and it actually held its voltage after taking loads and warming up. So I thought it was cured. So I turn it off and turn it back on just to find out that it went back to its old games. Something is up with that connector, but I cant seem to find a replacement for it. =[