[stevo1390]

ok, i have a question here are impalas suppose to have really tight steering that requires decent effort to steer? and what would cause a harder left turn with vibes and sometimes vibes to the right? all of which occurs after decent amount of driving. ( steering starts off easier then gradually gets harder) weird i know....

also compare this steering to an 01 pontiac grand am gt... i drove this then my car and it was much easier to turn with little effort... is there suppose to be this huge difference?

 

[capricewiz]

no you have a problem

 

[stevo1390]

and it pisses me off tha all the places i bring my car to say that nothings wrong and that thats normal... im trying to get the place i bought it to have another place fix it but they keep saying that nothings wrong.... any ideas that i can throw at them.... besides a chair

 

[Defeddie]

Chair sounds like a great idea.
Can't stress enough the importance of finding a great shop/mechanic and sticking with them.
They will know your car,it's history etc...

 

[stevo1390]

yep i've been to several mechanics throughout the 3 years i've been driving, 2 different vehicles and the one shop that did the most and helped clearly went out of business 6 months ago...

 

[Lingenfelter]

Check the power steering fluid levels.

The 'vibes you are describing could be an ISS issue, which is common and GM has a fix for (not sure of the repair cost).

If you're going to ask where the power steering fluid reservoir is, let us know if you have the 3.4L or 3.8L motor - the reservoir location is not the same.

 

[capricewiz]

the vibes could be the ISS but the steering stiffness wouldn't be affected. It would just make a light clunking noise. The stiffness, could be a bad rack, or p/s pump. Or even a loose belt.

 

[stevo1390]

you know all day today i was thinking it feels like a slipping belt on a pulley you know? but like i hit the brakes hard earlier and when i was at the light and for the next few minutes of driving it was damn near impossible to steer, and the wheels wouldn't return to normal on their own...

i know where the p/s res is, i think i filled it a little high though but its been doing this since before i filled it... and the vibes occur slightly on occasion to the right but frequently to the left..

Also the stiffness and vibes come about 10 seconds after driving... for those firt few seconds its normal, and im looking in the haynes guide and the belt can't be adjusted... what is there to do?
Would that be another possibility the tensioner going bad so the belt is loose or damaged? i need to check it out in the daylight or can the belt spuratically become loose and then normal during use without making any abnormal noises?

 

[capricewiz]

ok, here's what you can try first. Jack up the front end off the ground. With the car not running, turn the steering wheel back and forth wtih the cap off of the resevoir. This will get the air out of the system, if there is any air. Basically keep turning the wheel till it feels like your arm is gonna fall off, then switch arms, until it feels like that arm is gonna fall off. The turn the wheel a couple of times with it running and see how it feels.

 

[stevo1390]

ok ill try it but i just don't get how air could've got into the system

 

[Defeddie]

If any line or seal in the system is even slightly weeping at all-not even leaking,then air can get in.
Wish I had a pic of a dark spot on a rack or behind the pulley-normally you would think some moisture trapped some dirt or something simple like that. You sure wouldn't think that it would be a real leak.
But if even 1/19837th of a drop of fluid can get out,then tiny air bubble's can get in. Over time they build up to bigger bubbles and air+hydraulic pump doesn't fair well for a hydraulic pump.

At the shop we do as wiz is suggesting,though we have vacuum pump's that we use to put about 20 in/hg of vacuum on the reservoir.
Then we jack it up and turn lock to lock 20 times on each lock without load on the wheels to cycle all the fluid through,that will purge all the air from the system.
I imagine you don't have a vacuum pump so just turning lock to lock will cycle all the fluid through-without the vacuum to bring the air to the top though you have to cycle it through more like wiz is suggesting.

 

[capricewiz]

keep in mind, I'm still thinking you have a bad belt and tensioner, but I'm suggesting that we try and rule out the idea that you might have air in the system.

 

[stevo1390]

well i did what i had to do and about a pint of power steering fluid was dripping out of somewhere i dont think it was the top... i think i have a problem...

and the resevoir was filled with millions of tiny air bubbles... and now im getting a loud whine even after i put ps fluid in

and i tried to do it again and the fluid keeps rising and overflowing... what can i do?

 

[capricewiz]

with the car running? or not running? If you're bleeding the system the car should not be running, and it will over flow a bit

 

[stevo1390]

it was not running... and now it over flowed a lot and then it makes a whine when i drive.... even though the fluid level is fine... what should i do?

 

[capricewiz]

well... is the fluid at the right level? when running? its most likely whining cause after the air burped out of it, its now low on fluid. so top it off if its low. how's the steering feel now?

 

[stevo1390]

i haven't checked it while its running but after the level is fine... but id say at least 1 entire containers worth of fluid, maybe even closer to 2, spewed everywhere, and its weird that its still really full, i think the whining may have gone away. the steering still feels pretty tight i can't feel much of a difference really.

when i first did this earlier the 2 boots that were fully extended were making a slight clunk feel as i manually moved the wheel by hand, also followed by clunky noises each couple of degrees i turned it coming from the middle ( possibly the rack) is that normal? and since all that fluid came out and it still says full... i know that can't be right

 

[capricewiz]

that's most likely the intermediate shaft. But that's not going to cause stiff steering.

 

[stevo1390]

heres the thing, i did it again today and kept an eye on the resevoir and it never overflowed but it was all over the bottom of the engine area on the passenger side. it looked as if it were from a hose or something. steering is still tight and stiff but right after i do it it is beter then it gets a little ways down the road.

and the clicking and clunking seemed t be coming from the strut mount as it i turned the wheel. my ear was in the wheel well and i definately came from there and slightly from the shaft when i turn it back and forth rapidly.

 

[stevo1390]

should i try that lucas power steering lube/ repair stuff? maybe that will help here....