'99 Legacy Outback power steering hesitation

A month ago I had 4 new tires put on and a computer analyzed 4 wheel alignment done. A week or so later, I had 4 new rotors & pads put on at Meineke.

Trouble is that since that was all done, the power steering has gotten 'sticky.' I have a dirt drive and when I turn the wheel to back around is when I first notice that the turning the steering wheel feels like it goes 10 degrees easy and then 3 degrees very hard so that when you turn through the stiff part, I end up over-powering through the next 10 degrees.

I notice this while driving mostly when I make 90 degree turns in either direction. This is going to get dangerous when snow comes.

My regular mechanic doesn't really know Subarus and I dread going to the dealer. However, he recalls work he did on a Ford pickup's PS that there was a small one-way valve in the line - sort of hearing aid battery size. Do Subarus have this?

The belt is tight and no slipping sounds are ever heard; the fluid level is proper both hot & cold; no vibration is seen on the PS pump; all was working fine before the brakes were fixed.

TIA for any help.

Reply to
Buddy
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here's Buddy's last post ->:

Not much input, so let's fly this balloon again. I guess Subs don't have many power steering problems.

Reply to
Buddy

A coworker once came into the office saying that her minivan had power steering problems, that in some curves, the steering would get hard and the car uncontrollable. She had recently replaced tires as well.

Upon inspection, the power steering looked right. I asked her to drive in circles in the parking lot and found that the tires she had were the wrong type for the minivan, and that during cornering, the wheel would touch the ground causing the "problem".

Her mechanic had quoted $1200 for the replacement of the rack and pinion.

I doubt this is your case.

Good luck!

Buddy wrote:

Reply to
AS

here's AS's last post ->:

I appreciate your response. My problem happens even when I just turn the wheel while standing still.

Worse yet, the problem now appears to be intermittent. The morning I went to see my mechanic, it showed no symptoms.

At $60/hr., I loath going to the dealer.

Reply to
Buddy

The power steering system is rather simple in nature:

It has a pump that has a relief and a flow control valve. It these were to stick open you would have hard steering when at low engine RPMs.

The rack and pinion also has a control valve.

If I were you, I would try replacing the power steering fluid first. Empty the reservoir, fill it with clean fluid. Operate the power steering stop to stops several times. Empty the reservoir. Repeat until all the fluid removed from the tank is as clean as the one you are putting in. I am sure there are other ways to do this, but I would hate to disconnect hoses etc.

Good luck

Buddy wrote:

Reply to
AS

here's AS's last post ->:

I ended up taking it the Subaru dealer. I ended up replacing the steering u-joint. Actually came across a post in alt.autos that referenced a white paper for a steering problem on an Impala:

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which sorta 'steered' me towards the u-joint problem.

$370.00 later and it's no longer a problem.

Reply to
Buddy

Hi,

I seem to be experiencing a similar problem to you. Last week I noticed that the steering was getting notchy, similar to how you describe, but it only happens when I first drive the car in the morning. It seems to be when the system is cold, and the symptom disappears after about a minute.

At first I thought it may be bad fluid but suspected that the pump may be giving up. But, I've just read this post and noticed that you suggest it may be a universal joint. Is that fix still working for you? If so can you point me in the direction of the part that you changed, then I'll investigate that too.

I have a 2000 Forester (I'm in the UK, not sure if it is the same car rebadged), with 98000 miles on the clock. I've not yet performed any investigation other than to check the oil level (which was OK when cold). Just doing a bit of research first.

Any help will me much appreciated.

Thanks

Les Gray.

Reply to
Les Gray

Just a quick update.

It appears that my problem was simply a slightly loose drive belt. Soon after posting my previous comment It started to squeal quite badly soon after start up. On inspection I saw that it looked old and cracked and appeared a little looser than I'd expect, so I tightened it a little and the problem seems to have gone away. I'll pick up a new belt this week as I suspect that the old one hasn't got long to live.

Les Gray

Reply to
Les Gray

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