Holy cr@p , almost wrecked the car today , I'm blessed
03-31-2012, 03:58 PM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Holy cr@p , almost wrecked the car today , I'm blessed
I was at the first car show this year and was on my way back home when I took the first exit from the highway which is a 180* turn and narrows down and gets very sharp at the end.
Halfway into the corner doing about 50mph and was just about to get on the brakes and was holding the steering wheel with two fingers as usual since the car have power steering, and suddenly... no steering ..WTF and WTH...stucked....well almost anyway , I wasn't prepared for a heavy steering coming up that fast.
In a split second and before I managed to get both hands on the wheel the car went over in the opposite lane and down with two wheels in the ditch on the other side of the road and I worked the steering wheel really hard before I was able to get the car back up on the road again and did a 180* spin and stopped in the right lane but in the wrong direction in a cloud of smoke from the tires. It was quite hard to turn the car around in the right direction but I pulled away fast as hell and stopped at a parking space nearby and just sat in the car for several minutes and almost squeezed out some juices out of the teak wood and felt my heart beating hard and I said to my self..Dayum , wtf happened.
Luckily for me and the car there was no other cars around at the exit but there was some really big rocks further down in the ditch and I can't imagine what could have happened if I had been in the ditch a few seconds longer.
I opened the hood and I expected to see the power steering belt broken or gone but it was still there , It was the nylock nut that holds the PS pulley , the nut was on the last thread and the pulley was spinning on the threads but the pump axle was standing still , and that's why the car was so hard to steer , since I had to move all the oil around with the steering wheel . I have put loctite on that nut now and hopefully It won't happen again , It wasn't pleasant and It was close and also the scariest 5 seconds of my life but the car is Ok and so am I and that's what's matters.
Peter
Halfway into the corner doing about 50mph and was just about to get on the brakes and was holding the steering wheel with two fingers as usual since the car have power steering, and suddenly... no steering ..WTF and WTH...stucked....well almost anyway , I wasn't prepared for a heavy steering coming up that fast.
In a split second and before I managed to get both hands on the wheel the car went over in the opposite lane and down with two wheels in the ditch on the other side of the road and I worked the steering wheel really hard before I was able to get the car back up on the road again and did a 180* spin and stopped in the right lane but in the wrong direction in a cloud of smoke from the tires. It was quite hard to turn the car around in the right direction but I pulled away fast as hell and stopped at a parking space nearby and just sat in the car for several minutes and almost squeezed out some juices out of the teak wood and felt my heart beating hard and I said to my self..Dayum , wtf happened.
Luckily for me and the car there was no other cars around at the exit but there was some really big rocks further down in the ditch and I can't imagine what could have happened if I had been in the ditch a few seconds longer.
I opened the hood and I expected to see the power steering belt broken or gone but it was still there , It was the nylock nut that holds the PS pulley , the nut was on the last thread and the pulley was spinning on the threads but the pump axle was standing still , and that's why the car was so hard to steer , since I had to move all the oil around with the steering wheel . I have put loctite on that nut now and hopefully It won't happen again , It wasn't pleasant and It was close and also the scariest 5 seconds of my life but the car is Ok and so am I and that's what's matters.
Peter
03-31-2012, 04:14 PM
#3
Team Owner
No biggee...Lok-Tite and fresh undies and off you go again...
Seriously - VERY lucky dude.
Seriously - VERY lucky dude.
03-31-2012, 04:28 PM
#5
Race Director
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When power steering goes out, it's a LOT stiffer than regular steering is for those who don't know. Try it with a heavy pickup truck going around a hairpin!
Count your lucky stars man, it could have been very UGLY!
Count your lucky stars man, it could have been very UGLY!
03-31-2012, 06:39 PM
#7
Le Mans Master
In my former line of work, when someone like you says they were "doing about 50 mph", they were really doing closer to 70. They intended to slow to about 50, and were not watching the speedo. Just saying...
Last edited by 65hihp; 03-31-2012 at 06:41 PM.
03-31-2012, 06:48 PM
#8
Melting Slicks
Very lucky. Glad you didn't damage the car. Close call that could have been a lot worse story on here.
I was very blessed a couple months ago when I saved my Z06 from damage during a spin out headed toward steep banked ditch with rip-rap. I had to re-gain my respect for the car.
I was very blessed a couple months ago when I saved my Z06 from damage during a spin out headed toward steep banked ditch with rip-rap. I had to re-gain my respect for the car.
03-31-2012, 07:43 PM
#9
Safety Car
WOW! glad you have a strong heart .... what a good lesson for all of us, something else to add to the checklist, I always try to check out under the hood before I fire up, I'm under there hooking up the battery anyway ...
04-02-2012, 01:40 PM
#12
Le Mans Master
PS pulley
Glad you and the car are OK. My PS pump was making a racket and low and behold, the nylock nut was almost off. I tightened it up and used a few drops of locktite on the nut and shaft. I make a habit of checking the pulley before a long trip. Jerry
04-02-2012, 04:01 PM
#13
Racer
Thread Starter
Now after my "little" mishap I've been thinking about making a short "checklist" before taking the car out.
04-02-2012, 04:05 PM
#14
Tech Contributor
04-02-2012, 04:17 PM
#15
Race Director
04-02-2012, 08:39 PM
#17
Le Mans Master
You promised me a party !
I had to drive from Ottawa Canada, to Novi Michigan, with broken power steering.....no fun...and much harder to control than non PS .
Jack
04-03-2012, 04:59 PM
#18
Racer
Thread Starter
I'm looking forward to the little party too which btw more likely will develop to a big little party
I agree , driving a car with broken PS sux , big time
Peter
