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'97 Camry steering wheel sudden "lockup"

Is it normal for the steering to prevent sharp turns in low traction situations? Some years ago I recall driving into a gas station while it was raining, it was one of those tiled stations, made a sudden turn and bam!..It was like the tires hit a brick wall....Steering wheel would not move until I reduced the rate of the turn....Sort of like when you pull the seat belt too quickly. Is this some form of traction control at work or a fault with the car? I surmised if this was normal then raising the front off the ground while the car was powered (and stationary) could simulate the effect but never got around to trying it. And yes, my tires were probably well worn at the time.

Reply to
oparr
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I've never heard of it, but that probably doesn't mean much... ;-D

What year Camry? How many miles? Changed the power steering fluid regularly?

Michael

Reply to
mrdarrett

1997, 140000, never changed only topped up. The incident in question occurred at around 100,000 miles. After doing some further reading, I'm now leaning to a slipping belt. Also, after doing some invoice checks, the timing belt along with all belts and water pump were changed at 72,000 miles. Belt squeals a lot sometimes even now when making stationary full locks. When wet it probably slips more and the feeling of lockup may be due to a momentary complete loss of power assist when other conditions favor it (example a sharp turn of the steering wheel).
Reply to
oparr

Where did you have the timing belt done?

Reply to
mrdarrett

The Toyota dealer.

Reply to
oparr

You've got it in one there. A temporary belt slippage will give you the sudden loss of power-assist. Good deduction.

Jason

Reply to
Jason James

We keep hearing about all the drop outs working at dealerships. That's too bad.

Reply to
johngdole

Toyota wouldn't spend a few dollars for an automatic belt tensioner for the drive belts. And the dealer tech probably didn't even retension the belts before returning the car to you like they are supposed to. Shame on them. Can you tell us who made the belts by the name on the belts (Toyota buys from the lowest bidder)? Thanks.

Get new Gates belts and I'd recommend a Gates Krik-it II Micro-V-belt tension gauge. Special order from your local NAPA store for about $20. The traditional deflection method is just not reliable.

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I use Gates belts and hoses. No problems here. rockauto.com has good prices on these.
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Reply to
johngdole

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