Steering Failure

PVSLS400 · June 30, 2006

hey all I am in a situation and cant go any further. to start off i have done tons of searching between here amd CL. First off my 90 ls had a wine in the power steering pump nothing bad or annoying but then i lost power then it comes off and on depending on its mood so i do a flush and clean resivor screen and the pps solenoid screen, Next i meter the sensor and get 7.0 ohms of resistance then i hook the sensor directly to 12v for a few seconds and feel it click. seems to be fine so i put it all back together and it does the same thing great steering accept when you come off the highway to the off ramp and steering gets hard accelerate up and its fine again. So i put a new Pump on and wallah no wine steering is silky smooth for about 10 miles my customer that wants to buy car gets in and takes it for a spin and it acts up again but no wine or anything but no power so i dive it and i have complete failure no power at all so i flush system again thinking some air got in magicly or i just didnt get it all out on the test drive. i go to the tech manual next and it states to replace rack so today i get new rack and waist 4 hrs removing and installing new rack and i think to myself sweet tech manual says 6 hrs to replace so i am ahead of the game here add fluid dextron III i am sure there is no air, fluid is at proper level turn the wheel and nada nothing.I know pump is working because it shot out fluid out the return line in great pressure. Hopefully some one has had the same problems and can give me some advise! my last resort is to fork out 300 for a new solenoid but i just spent 150 on pump and 440 on rack which is not the problem Help Help Help Help Thanks

chris vince · June 30, 2006

hey all I am in a situation and cant go any further. to start off i have done tons of searching between here amd CL. First off my 90 ls had a wine in the power steering pump nothing bad or annoying but then i lost power then it comes off and on depending on its mood so i do a flush and clean resivor screen and the pps solenoid screen, Next i meter the sensor and get 7.0 ohms of resistance then i hook the sensor directly to 12v for a few seconds and feel it click. seems to be fine so i put it all back together and it does the same thing great steering accept when you come off the highway to the off ramp and steering gets hard accelerate up and its fine again. So i put a new Pump on and wallah no wine steering is silky smooth for about 10 miles my customer that wants to buy car gets in and takes it for a spin and it acts up again but no wine or anything but no power so i dive it and i have complete failure no power at all so i flush system again thinking some air got in magicly or i just didnt get it all out on the test drive. i go to the tech manual next and it states to replace rack so today i get new rack and waist 4 hrs removing and installing new rack and i think to myself sweet tech manual says 6 hrs to replace so i am ahead of the game here add fluid dextron III i am sure there is no air, fluid is at proper level turn the wheel and nada nothing.I know pump is working because it shot out fluid out the return line in great pressure. Hopefully some one has had the same problems and can give me some advise! my last resort is to fork out 300 for a new solenoid but i just spent 150 on pump and 440 on rack which is not the problem Help Help Help Help Thanks

Hi,

This sounds an engine speed related problem to me, without wishing to cause offence (you sound like you know your way around the car) did you change the drive belt with the new pump? is it being contaminated by fluid/oil? is it tight enough?

Sometimes it pays to go back to basics, I hope you sort it out without much more expense.

Chris Vince

benryan · July 22, 2006

hey all I am in a situation and cant go any further. to start off i have done tons of searching between here amd CL. First off my 90 ls had a wine in the power steering pump nothing bad or annoying but then i lost power then it comes off and on depending on its mood so i do a flush and clean resivor screen and the pps solenoid screen, Next i meter the sensor and get 7.0 ohms of resistance then i hook the sensor directly to 12v for a few seconds and feel it click. seems to be fine so i put it all back together and it does the same thing great steering accept when you come off the highway to the off ramp and steering gets hard accelerate up and its fine again. So i put a new Pump on and wallah no wine steering is silky smooth for about 10 miles my customer that wants to buy car gets in and takes it for a spin and it acts up again but no wine or anything but no power so i dive it and i have complete failure no power at all so i flush system again thinking some air got in magicly or i just didnt get it all out on the test drive. i go to the tech manual next and it states to replace rack so today i get new rack and waist 4 hrs removing and installing new rack and i think to myself sweet tech manual says 6 hrs to replace so i am ahead of the game here add fluid dextron III i am sure there is no air, fluid is at proper level turn the wheel and nada nothing.I know pump is working because it shot out fluid out the return line in great pressure. Hopefully some one has had the same problems and can give me some advise! my last resort is to fork out 300 for a new solenoid but i just spent 150 on pump and 440 on rack which is not the problem Help Help Help Help Thanks

What was the resolution to your steering situation? I have the exact problem goin' on with my '91LS and all signs point to the EVO solenoid. I replaced the rack, flushed the fluid, bled the system and still with the stiff steering. The pump isn't noisy and, based on the 20 ft. long oil stain on my driveway, the pressure is good. The rack that I purchased from Auto Zone did not include the solenoid. The dealer wanted $847.00! All the online outfits do not sell the solenoid seperately without the rack (although there is only $10.00 difference in the price with or without the solenoid). None left at the wrecking yards. What the heck did you do?

Alex JB · July 23, 2006

Hi All,

I'm also interested to hear what you did to solve your issue,

I'm just starting to get noise from my steering (sounds like the pump) and although I have not lost any power I am concerned that the problem goes away when the car get's warm but each day takes a little longer to go away...

My car had a new pump about 6k miles ago so I thought I would not have any probs and tried the lock to lock test when I bought it - silent as you like.

I'm V worried this sounds like an expensive job.

simontaylor · July 23, 2006

I too have have this noise when cold, every morning, but not in the evening on the way home. However it has gone away over the last 2 or 3 weeks during this hot weather.

Poncho1 · July 24, 2006

I also have this on and off situation after I replease the hose rack from my SC400, before buying a new rack or pump or anything, pleas let me know if you find the solution for this on and off problem. Thanks.

peter026 · July 24, 2006

Linky

Seems to be some sort of fix here

PVSLS400 · July 25, 2006

Well after all the work i did it turned out to be a combination of things The PPS Solenoid was toast, the new pump was toast and there was a piece of metal in the line so i assume it was caused from a cheap autozone pump. Toyota put the solenoid on and replaced the pump and charged me 275.00 for the complete fix, But in the process the tech working on the LS broke his hand while working on car. He had car hooked up to high pressure in reverse and metal shot out, and hand in was between steering wheel and colum. did not have seatbelt securing wheel

I got Solenoid here for 250.00 http://www.taprecycling.net/index.php

Alex JB · July 26, 2006

Well after all the work i did it turned out to be a combination of things The PPS Solenoid was toast, the new pump was toast and there was a piece of metal in the line so i assume it was caused from a cheap autozone pump. Toyota put the solenoid on and replaced the pump and charged me 275.00 for the complete fix, But in the process the tech working on the LS broke his hand while working on car. He had car hooked up to high pressure in reverse and metal shot out, and hand in was between steering wheel and colum. did not have seatbelt securing wheel
I got Solenoid here for 250.00 http://www.taprecycling.net/index.php

That's great to know thanks.

Does anyone have a hydraulic schemaitc or cross sectional view of this valve....

I know a bit about hydraulics but can't figure this valve from the posts so far, I'm interested in how it works

benryan · July 28, 2006

Well after all the work i did it turned out to be a combination of things The PPS Solenoid was toast, the new pump was toast and there was a piece of metal in the line so i assume it was caused from a cheap autozone pump. Toyota put the solenoid on and replaced the pump and charged me 275.00 for the complete fix, But in the process the tech working on the LS broke his hand while working on car. He had car hooked up to high pressure in reverse and metal shot out, and hand in was between steering wheel and colum. did not have seatbelt securing wheel
I got Solenoid here for 250.00 http://www.taprecycling.net/index.php

Thanks for the info. Did the tech put the lines in reverse as a matter of protocol to remove foreign matter

or was it a mistake that went awry and the metal came out? How did you determine whether the solenoid was toast? Do you suspect the metal in the line or a clogged screen burned it out? Because my screen on the solenoid was completely clogged when I removed the rack. Was the solenoid from TAP new or used? It is clear that you and your injured tech have been through quite a bit on this project, your hard fought info has been greatly appreciated.

PVSLS400 · July 28, 2006

Yes the tech hooked up the lines in reverse to get the blockage out. How they tested the solenoid was, they did what i did hook up 12v directly to solenoid with car running and in park and see if you have steering but they went one step further and disconected 2 small lines on rack and powered up solenoid no fluid came out of lines. Tech manual says solenoid should be 6 to 7 ohms well my solenoid was readind 7.7 when i tested it and they tested it it was reading over 9 ohms so the blockage was causing solenoid failure. My thoughts were the screen on solenoid was missing chunks and those metal parts went somewhere in the line. The solenoid from TAP was used but they stated car had under 50k so its fairly new. No tech didnt secure steering wheel was what dealership stated, i feel bad but hes a buddy and a case of beer fixed him up right away!