Power Steering ('91)

The steering in my '91 (160K) is feeling sluggish when car is at idle. No
noticeable when at 1000 RPM or higher.

Belt was old and thought that might have stretched. Replaced belt.

Mechanic says it might be the power steering pump or it might be the
steering mechanism. His opinion is "lets drive it a bit more until it
becomes more significant.". but that concerns me.

Any opinion on likelihood of pump vs. steering mechanism?

I'd replace the pump first. The symptoms match, and the pump is considerably
less expensive to replace, compared to the P/S rack and labor.
"coach" > wrote in message
newsLmdnVw7NMP1tVLVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@metrocastcab levision.com...
> The steering in my '91 (160K) is feeling sluggish when car is at idle. No
> noticeable when at 1000 RPM or higher.
>
> Belt was old and thought that might have stretched. Replaced belt.
>
> Mechanic says it might be the power steering pump or it might be the
> steering mechanism. His opinion is "lets drive it a bit more until it
> becomes more significant.". but that concerns me.
>
> Any opinion on likelihood of pump vs. steering mechanism?
>

"coach" > wrote in message
newsLmdnVw7NMP1tVLVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@metrocastcab levision.com...
> The steering in my '91 (160K) is feeling sluggish when car is at idle. No
> noticeable when at 1000 RPM or higher.
>
> Belt was old and thought that might have stretched. Replaced belt.
>
> Mechanic says it might be the power steering pump or it might be the
> steering mechanism. His opinion is "lets drive it a bit more until it
> becomes more significant.". but that concerns me.
>
> Any opinion on likelihood of pump vs. steering mechanism?
>

I assume the power steering fluid was actually checked.

Second that! Have you ever checked and topped up the power steering fluid?
That brought back a bit more feeling to my '91.

Jeroen Feelders
Technical Commissioner
Mazda MX-5 Club of the Netherlands
http://miata.feelders.com


"Frank Berger" > schreef in bericht
m...
|
| "coach" > wrote in message
| newsLmdnVw7NMP1tVLVnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@metrocastcab levision.com...
| > The steering in my '91 (160K) is feeling sluggish when car is at idle.
No
| > noticeable when at 1000 RPM or higher.
| >
| > Belt was old and thought that might have stretched. Replaced belt.
| >
| > Mechanic says it might be the power steering pump or it might be the
| > steering mechanism. His opinion is "lets drive it a bit more until it
| > becomes more significant.". but that concerns me.
| >
| > Any opinion on likelihood of pump vs. steering mechanism?
| >
|
| I assume the power steering fluid was actually checked.
|
|

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:30:49 -0400, "coach" > wrote:

>The steering in my '91 (160K) is feeling sluggish when car is at idle. No
>noticeable when at 1000 RPM or higher.
>
>Mechanic says it might be the power steering pump ....

Power steering? They put power steering on a _Miata_?

-- Larry

unfortunately!

Chris
99BBB

> Power steering? They put power steering on a _Miata_?
>
> -- Larry

It seems that some cars do very well without power steering, and others are
a bear without it.

We once had an early 60's Chevy Nova that didn't need power steering. As I
understand it, the mechanical design was mostly from Opel. The replacement,
a US designed 67 Chevy II, was really bad until power steering was added.
In addition, I had a 68 Chevelle with a 396. It was OK to drive without
power steering, but absolutely miserable to park. Not wanting my then new
wife to develop weight lifter's arms, I found a leftover P/S kit at a dealer
for all of $100 (U install). The Miata seems to have perhaps a more than
usual number of female owners, and power steering appeals to them.

It's really kind of odd in a way, since many of the smaller, lighter non US
cars are designed to not need power steering.
As the Japanese cars got heaver and more loaded down with "creature
comforts" AKA as "accessories", power steering seems to have become the norm
for them.

The heaviest car I ever owned was a 57 Buick 2 Door Century. It did not have
power steering. The steering wheel was huge by todays standards, and angled
just right for leverage. Even so, to park, you had to have the car moving
slightly in order to turn the steering wheel without a large effort.

I once had an almost "head on" collision while driving this car. A woman ran
a stop sign, just missed a pedestrian in the crosswalk, and turned right
into my path. The Buick weighed about twice as much as her car, a Ford
Falcon. No contest. It cracked the cast Buick Grille, and totalled the
Falcon. The Falcon's vent window closed on the woman's hand, and broke
several fingers. The Falcon's drive shaft transmitted a large amount of the
impact to the rear axle, and pushed the rear axle guts out the back of the
case. The woman driver was knocked out by the impact, and it ended up that
the pedestrian was a lady doctor, who treated the driver on the spot. Her
comments to the police, when they finally arrived, must have been
noteworthy, as the cop was shaking his head when he walked to me. The first
words from the cop were "it's not your fault". He seemed to think that,
since no one was killed, in all, the accident was sort of humorous, and a
lesson in what can happen when a compact car tangles with a "full size" car.
(I drove the Buick for several weeks before fixing it.)

"Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
...
> unfortunately!
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
>> Power steering? They put power steering on a _Miata_?
>>
>> -- Larry

In article >,
"Chuck" > wrote:

> It seems that some cars do very well without power steering, and others are
> a bear without it.

I like the PS on my Miata. It has a quicker ratio than the manual rack.

I had a 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-55. 4000 lb, 3-speed manual, no A/C,
no power steering (it wasn't even an option). Over 5 turns lock-to-lock.
I could parallel park it, but it required sliding over so I could use
both hands on one side of the steering wheel.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

Lanny Chambers > wrote:

> I like the PS on my Miata. It has a quicker ratio than the manual
> rack.

Quicker or not, I really like PS.

> I had a 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-55. 4000 lb, 3-speed manual,
> no A/C, no power steering (it wasn't even an option). Over 5 turns
> lock-to-lock. I could parallel park it, but it required sliding
> over so I could use both hands on one side of the steering wheel.

My last non PS car was my 1964 Corvette, I don't recall it requiring
much effort at all, the steering was about 4 turns lock to lock but
when I had it, my hands, arms, shoulders, back, etc. were fully
functional. I don't know if I could drive it or not today, I know I
can't work the clutch on a Mustang and the Miata is getting a little
bit difficult...




--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://improve-usenet.org

"I know I can't work the clutch on a Mustang "

The last Mustang I drove a few years back had a "ring" clutch cylinder. It
had almost no feel and very little effort was required, less than my 99
Miata.

> can't work the clutch on a Mustang
"XS11E" > wrote in message
. ..
> Lanny Chambers > wrote:
>
>> I like the PS on my Miata. It has a quicker ratio than the manual
>> rack.
>
> Quicker or not, I really like PS.
>
>> I had a 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-55. 4000 lb, 3-speed manual,
>> no A/C, no power steering (it wasn't even an option). Over 5 turns
>> lock-to-lock. I could parallel park it, but it required sliding
>> over so I could use both hands on one side of the steering wheel.
>
> My last non PS car was my 1964 Corvette, I don't recall it requiring
> much effort at all, the steering was about 4 turns lock to lock but
> when I had it, my hands, arms, shoulders, back, etc. were fully
> functional. I don't know if I could drive it or not today, I know I
> can't work the clutch on a Mustang and the Miata is getting a little
> bit difficult...
>
>
>
>
> --
> XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
> The Usenet Improvement Project:
> http://improve-usenet.org