ok, so i searched a couple of threads on what kind of power steering problems people were having, but none of them seemed relevant to mine.

So my power steering problem is as follows:

When turning the wheel, everything works fine for the first couple of minutes, then when turning the wheel back left, after the center point, it becomes almost impossible to turn left... worse than not having power steering at all, but turning right is fine. I lifted the car, and bled the system again and again, but have not had any luck. I have no leaks, no ripped boots, no pump squeals, no drop in idle when it goes stiff, no engine studdering, no broken tie rod ends, nothing in the way of the wheels. So at this point, im a bit stumped. Has anyone else had this intermittent power steering problem?

I cant make a decision on which part to replace first, pump or rack. Any help would be appreciated.

thanks a lot!

btw: this is a 1993 1jzgte swapped sc300 5spd

 

whenever its hard to steer its the pump when its too easy its the rack...tough call though man have you jacked the car up and tried it?

 

the rack & pinion. the teflon inside the rack should be worn out. rarely goes out but it does happen.

 

This. The rack gets worn on the inside in time. Good luck.

 

Yup these ps racks are problematic.

 

had a feeling it would be the rack... well i guess its time to replace. 236xxx miles later... i guess it was bound to happen. thanks

 

im about to order a reman'd rack... but there are two options: one with speed sensitive module and one without it. If i get the one without it, can i remove the one from my rack and place it on the new rack?

 

yes you can swap the module i did on mine and a friends ..also before you put on the new rack check that the bolts on theend of the lines are tight or you might be doing the job twice

 

i posted about this here > https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...ring-rack.html

Get the one without it. You can unscrew the EVO unit (thats the module your talking about). it unscrews and looks somewhat like a oil filter. youll see when they are side by side.

 

I've got a '94 SC400 with 93k miles on it. Over the last 18 mos I've noticed occasional issues with steering effort. At slow speeds (like parallel parking or in parking lots) I will l suddenly loose most of the power assist; if I stop and hesitate it may correct and be fine or once I straighten out and give it some gas and move it's back to normal. Is there a variable assist component that could be problematic? Someone told me there is a computer or something behind the glove box that relates to ps-- but that could be bull****. The ps pump seems OK (I went through 3 of them when I replaced it last time to get one that wouldn't leak). This only happens once in awhile and only at low speed.

 

seems like you have the same issue the op had. but with your mileage it's kinda wierd.. our racks are kinda problematic as stated but at that mileage???