phil068

I just finished doing a harmonic balancer change and have a poblem with the power steering. When I am at idle I have no power assist. If I bring the rpm up a bit I do get it. It was working perfectly before I did the balancer change. I checked to make sure all the lines were tight and not leaking and resovoir was full. After i reassembled the damper and rack I turned it lock to lock about 20 times with the engine off. And then the same with the engine running(while on jack stands) to try and get any air out of the system. Any idea what this might be? I am hoping it is just some air bubbles that need to be worked out. Also I think it could possibly be the fluid I used. I got some lucas oil power steering fluid that claimed it was compatible with all makes and models of power steering. I figuerd lucas was a pretty good name and it was all I could find at the time. It seems to coincidental that the pump would go right now. Has any one else experienced this and how did you fix it.

JetMechZ16

Did you change to an underdriven Harmonic Balancer? If so may not be enough fluid flow at low rpm.

phil068

I went with the stock size replacement balancer. Its only been a couple days so I am hoping it will sort its self out. I am going to try replacing all the fluid using the turkey baster method and see if that helps. It could probably do with changing anyway.

phil068

Just a follow up to what happened. I changed all the fluid with a turkey baster with the front end off the ground. Then turned steering slowly lock to lock about 30 times with the car off and resovoir cap off, then did the same again with the car running. Checked fluid level (hadnt changed) and took a test drive. It didnt seem to make any difference, still no powers assist at idle. Was already to buy a new pump then after i drove to work and back the next day it seemed to fix its self. Guess it must have been air in the system after all. If anyone comes up with the same problem, be patint and give some time before jumping in to replace your pump.