[Sleuth6i]

As, I posted earlier, I am trying to maintain my 6 so she lasts over the life of the remaining the loan. On Halloween, I had a few hours to kill in the afternoon so I read the DIY PS change sticky and bought two quarts of Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF and put the car up on jack stands. I followed the procedure and exchanged about 1 quart of fluid using the baster method, the old stuff was very black and thick.

Today when driving around I notice my PS feels a lot stiffer than before and almost feels a bit weighted driving around. There is no noises from the pump. Did I do something wrong? Or is this just the normal returning to a stiffer feel after doing a PS change? Thanks for your help again everyone!

 

[Sleuth6i]

Sorry to bump this thread, but my power steering issue has become a bit more complicated. Even before the flush, the steering would stiffen up sometimes for a few seconds after making a extremely sharp turn. However, since I flushed the system it feels like I lost even more assist.

Even more troubling is when the car is idle if I turn the wheel in either direction and hold it there for a second the wheel will jerk in my hands like the assist is getting power then losing power causing the wheel to move in my hands. Before I bring it to the shop, do these symptoms strike you as a pump going out, or perhaps something else like a pressure house or even a steering rack issue? As always thank you for being a awesome forum! -Eric

 

[Uh-Oh]

"Even more troubling is when the car is idle if I turn the wheel in either direction and hold it there for a second the wheel will jerk in my hands like the assist is getting power then losing power causing the wheel to move in my hands."
This could be a slipping belt. You go full lock which loads the pump and the belt slips and you lose ps for a sec until the load drops off. Beyond that it's probably either the pump or the valving.

 

[Sleuth6i]

"Beyond that it's probably either the pump or the valving."

Sorry for the novice question but is the valving located near the pump assembly or is it located in the rack itself? Thanks for the quick feedback!

 

[Uh-Oh]

"Beyond that it's probably either the pump or the valving."

Sorry for the novice question but is the valving located near the pump assembly or is it located in the rack itself? Thanks for the quick feedback!

Sorry slow response ... exams

There is a valve in the pump assembly and one on/in the steering rack (it's on the top). Im 99% sure you replace the pump as a unit for the first one (valve is non serviceable); have no idea on the second. Im guessing neither are serviceable.

 

[Sleuth6i]

"Sorry slow response ... exams"

Good luck on your exams! Thanks for the feedback I have a appointment next week to have it looked at I will let you know what it ends up being, hopefully something that doesn't put too much of a dent in the holiday funds!