Power Steering ('91)

The steering in my '91 (160K) is feeling sluggish when car is at idle. No noticeable when at 1000 RPM or higher.

Belt was old and thought that might have stretched. Replaced belt.

Mechanic says it might be the power steering pump or it might be the steering mechanism. His opinion is "lets drive it a bit more until it becomes more significant.". but that concerns me.

Any opinion on likelihood of pump vs. steering mechanism?

Reply to
coach
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Reply to
Chuck

I assume the power steering fluid was actually checked.

Reply to
Frank Berger

Second that! Have you ever checked and topped up the power steering fluid? That brought back a bit more feeling to my '91.

Jeroen Feelders Technical Commissioner Mazda MX-5 Club of the Netherlands

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| > Belt was old and thought that might have stretched. Replaced belt. | >

| > Mechanic says it might be the power steering pump or it might be the | > steering mechanism. His opinion is "lets drive it a bit more until it | > becomes more significant.". but that concerns me. | >

| > Any opinion on likelihood of pump vs. steering mechanism? | >

| | I assume the power steering fluid was actually checked. | |

Reply to
jfeelders

Power steering? They put power steering on a _Miata_?

-- Larry

Reply to
pltrgyst

unfortunately!

Chris

99BBB

Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

It seems that some cars do very well without power steering, and others are a bear without it.

We once had an early 60's Chevy Nova that didn't need power steering. As I understand it, the mechanical design was mostly from Opel. The replacement, a US designed 67 Chevy II, was really bad until power steering was added. In addition, I had a 68 Chevelle with a 396. It was OK to drive without power steering, but absolutely miserable to park. Not wanting my then new wife to develop weight lifter's arms, I found a leftover P/S kit at a dealer for all of $100 (U install). The Miata seems to have perhaps a more than usual number of female owners, and power steering appeals to them.

It's really kind of odd in a way, since many of the smaller, lighter non US cars are designed to not need power steering. As the Japanese cars got heaver and more loaded down with "creature comforts" AKA as "accessories", power steering seems to have become the norm for them.

The heaviest car I ever owned was a 57 Buick 2 Door Century. It did not have power steering. The steering wheel was huge by todays standards, and angled just right for leverage. Even so, to park, you had to have the car moving slightly in order to turn the steering wheel without a large effort.

I once had an almost "head on" collision while driving this car. A woman ran a stop sign, just missed a pedestrian in the crosswalk, and turned right into my path. The Buick weighed about twice as much as her car, a Ford Falcon. No contest. It cracked the cast Buick Grille, and totalled the Falcon. The Falcon's vent window closed on the woman's hand, and broke several fingers. The Falcon's drive shaft transmitted a large amount of the impact to the rear axle, and pushed the rear axle guts out the back of the case. The woman driver was knocked out by the impact, and it ended up that the pedestrian was a lady doctor, who treated the driver on the spot. Her comments to the police, when they finally arrived, must have been noteworthy, as the cop was shaking his head when he walked to me. The first words from the cop were "it's not your fault". He seemed to think that, since no one was killed, in all, the accident was sort of humorous, and a lesson in what can happen when a compact car tangles with a "full size" car. (I drove the Buick for several weeks before fixing it.)

Reply to
Chuck

I like the PS on my Miata. It has a quicker ratio than the manual rack.

I had a 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-55. 4000 lb, 3-speed manual, no A/C, no power steering (it wasn't even an option). Over 5 turns lock-to-lock. I could parallel park it, but it required sliding over so I could use both hands on one side of the steering wheel.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

Quicker or not, I really like PS.

My last non PS car was my 1964 Corvette, I don't recall it requiring much effort at all, the steering was about 4 turns lock to lock but when I had it, my hands, arms, shoulders, back, etc. were fully functional. I don't know if I could drive it or not today, I know I can't work the clutch on a Mustang and the Miata is getting a little bit difficult...

Reply to
XS11E

"I know I can't work the clutch on a Mustang "

The last Mustang I drove a few years back had a "ring" clutch cylinder. It had almost no feel and very little effort was required, less than my 99 Miata.

Reply to
Chuck

In college, I autocrossed a friend's Corvette of similar vintage. It had the fast manual steering option, about 2.5 turns. I was afraid of getting a hernia.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

The last Mustang I drove had the cable operated cluch, when did they change to hydraulic?

Reply to
XS11E

Heh. The last Mustang I drove had a solid mechanical linkage. When did they change to cable? :-)

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

All the 3rd generation Fox bodied Mustangs (1979-1993) and 4th generation Mustangs (1994-2004) had cable operated clutches AFAIK.

Reply to
XS11E

I should have mentioned I got the Miata because I found a like brand new 1985 convertible 5 speed, very low miles with a perfect top, interior, body, etc., one owner and the dealer had sold it new and had all the maintainance records. I was determined to buy it but a test drive proved I couldn't manage the clutch with my arthritic knees and hips. After I tried to drive it, the salesman said that was exactly why they had the car, the elderly couple who owned it could no longer deal with the clutch and traded for an automatic.

Someone suggested I look at a Miata and I don't regret the choice!

BTW, I would have tried to managed somehow had it been an '86, the 302 would have been fuel injected with an enormous increase in mileage and much less tweaking needed to keep it running properly than the awful Motorcraft 4 barrel on the HO engines....

Reply to
XS11E

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