Steering and Suspension

you might need some stering fulid it goes under the hood you will see a cap with it wrote on it that should fix your problem

it all depends on what your using the car or truck for

it is most likely the calipers or steering i would get it check out before you have a catastrophic malfunction.

To my understanding, in a power steering system, the pinion is like a cog attached to the steering column. The rack is connected to the piston, supplying fluid ports which provide high pressure to one side or the other resulting in your wheels moving.

Hopefully my crappy answer will inspire a better one.

My answer...

If you have ever used a log splitter, its the exact same thing... kinda...

You have to hoses going to the rack. One is the pressure, and one is the return. The pump is always moving fluid when the engine is running.

When your warming your car up the fluid goes right through the rack valve and back to the pump tank. When you turn the steering wheel, a tiny torsion bar directs some of that fluid to one side of the rack piston, depending on which way you want to turn.

If your car is sitting still the torsion bar will have alot of tension when you turn the wheel, and give lots of oil to the rack piston. If your blasting down the highway and turn the wheel there is very little torque on the torsion bar, so it diverts a tiny amount of fluid to the rack piston. On the rack you will notice two steel tubes going to the rack housing. These tubes carry the fluid from the valve to one side of the piston or the other, and also carry the fluid from the unused side of the piston back to the tank.

Back to the log splitter, the more you move the valve handle the faster the splitting wedge moves, same with your rack, except it moves the valve more or less for you.

Ever notice when you rev the motor on your log splitter the wedge moves faster?

Well your lucky that your car does not do the same. Imagine at an idle you need two people to steer, and at high RPMs the wheel would be way top easy. Power steering pumps have two valves built into them. One is a pressure relief valve so when you steer to the end of travel, it does not brake the pump shaft. The other valve is basically a flow divider.

The "flow divider" has two paths for the outlet fluid, one is the controlled flow, the other is the excess flow. The controlled flow is always the same (pretty much) no matter how fast you are turning the pump, and goes to the rack valve. The excess flow changes with engine speed, and is sent right back to the tank.

For you race car builders... if your driver is whining about the steering, you can buy different torsion bars, which will deflect at different rates. This gives you the opportunity to make the steering softer or harder, which ever the driver prefers. These are typically the recirculating ball type gear boxes and not racks.

For you snow plowers, you can use a second power steering pump to provide your plow valve fluid... get rid of that pesky electric motor! You just need to tweek the "flow divider" and plug the relief valve, but make sure your control valve has a built in adjustable relief valve.

Want a hydraulic winch on the front of your truck? Use a second power steering pump.

Want a slow log splitter, hook up a second pump.... Anything is possible now that you have a hydraulic pump!!!

Have fun, and try not to spray oil all over your shop!

The most likely reason is an unbalanced wheel on the front. There can be other causes such as worn ball joints or tie rod ends. I would recommend first having your front wheels balanced to see if that cures the problem, it's cheap to do.

Your rack and pinion can go bad for a number of reasons, a wreck, hitting the side of the curve with one of your tires too hard, driving your car with bad suspension will put extra strain on your rack and pinion causing it to go bad , and normal wear and tear

grinding means the bearings inside steering column are worn out go to a steering column specialist to have them replaced if you leave it to long, you will also need new shaft in column, then the cost will go up by about 400 bucks

Yes

Loss of speed.

If the column has no key cylinder, just like any other column. If the key is lost/missing re-building the column will replace the cylinder.

Unless it is dark or smells burnt, just make sure it is up to the correct level. If it isn’t broke, don't fix it. It's one of the few items people don’t bother to change but remember the fluid is hydroscopic and will absorbs water so needs to be changed every two years.

the power steering is leaking were the lines run inside the boot on the driver side

At the power steering resivoir. Find the pump and you will find the resivoir near it or on it.

i have a 1993 ford f 150 truck , it has the same problem, i removed the steering wheel and found a bad bearing. i just need a schematic drawing to see how to replace, and to see the order in which to remove.

Listed in your owners manual. Purchase an approved GM power steering fluid at any auto parts store.

A pretty common cause of this is that the u-joints in the steering column need to be replaced.

Get bigger rims and tires. The wheels will look better and you'll gain a few inches. Answer: You can raise the car by adding a taller tire (doesn't have to be a bigger rim) or by putting an air bag suspension on the front, or a taller spring or torsion bar, and for the rear, if it a solid axle (not independent) you can use lift blocks between the axle and the leaf spring.

It may be. Although the most common culprit is a warped rotor, I'm sure the sway bar link is not helping the problem at all. They can be extremely inexpensive (approx. $5-15 each, though some designs can run up to $100 [rare]), so I would suggest replacing it.

It has to do with the suspension,probably worn out shock`s or spring`s or both,maybe even a strut.

we just did this at 132000 miles.they should be pressed out (and new ones back in) but found, after getting a quote to have the work done at a shop (nearly 900.00!)that we purchased the parts AND a press to do it ourselves still saving 450.00 after all was said & done! took my husband and son about three hours with the added bonus of having added a press to their tool collection! time is money, we are well aware as we are trades people, and this was a deal no matter how you slice it!

I have a 2000 Buick Century costom and I replaced it but it leaks what could be wrong

Look in the owners manual and it will give you the location. It has to be OFF while the wheels are off the ground or it will do damage to the system.

well it also alert you air bags or suspension off

There are 2 possibilities for this depending on what engine is in the car.

If you have a 3.8 liter engine, the reservoir is hidden beneath the alternator on the backside of the engine. You can get to the cap and check the fluid level, but they don't make it too easy. Be careful not to drop the cap, because it can be difficult to retrieve.

If it isn't the 3.8 liter engine, then the power steering reservoir is right at the top of the engine on the left side (when looking at the engine from the front of the car).

There are several types of front suspensions that allow your vehicle to both steer and go over bumps in the road. One such suspension type is called the MAC-PHERSON STRUT. The intent of the Mac-Pherson Strut was to reduce the " unsprung weight" of the wheel and suspension components. Doing that can significantly improve handling and provide better contact between tires and the road.

Strut components can wear out, and when they do they need to be replaced so that the vehicle will operate safely. Commonly, strut inserts (similar to a shock absorber), springs and bushings may wear or otherwise fail, seriously degrading the performance of your vehicle.

There is no fuel pressure sensor.