ok so i was just playing around in the rain and did a couple dounuts in a parking lot not far from home and then i heard i a loud noise like screeching, i didnt think it was my car, took off home and just down the street i lost my power steering, kinda felt like i had a flat tire in the front so i pulled over and they were all still up... took off and the steering was very stiff then loosened up. pulled into the driveway and jacked the front end up.


1 steering arm wiggles up and down a bit and it causes the passenger tire to go side to side a bit. i tried to grease that joint and it took alot of force to get any grease into it. the joint is on the passenger side, the arm piviots on a piece that is bolted onto the frame with 2 bolts.

also when the car is idling and turning the wheel side to side when it gets all the way to one side the power steering gets pretty loud and almost kills the engine. and when its idling and listen to the power steering pump it has a light sound to it that makes me think theres metal grinding.

i took the car for drive around the block after to see and it seems to steer just fine and drive fine and goes straight but it has lost power or it seems like it has

i have to head back to work in 6 hours, if somone could just tell me if its safe to get to work and back home (45KM round trip city) without causing a accident???? would you drive it like this?

 

ok i just found out its the Idler arm that pivots on the mount bolted to the frame rail that is loose.

 

ok, drove to work and back home no prob althogh the steering felt funny. im just finishing up replacing the idling arm. when yanking on the steering rods underneath now they are solid.


now its just to find out whats wrong with the power steering, when the engine is off and the wheels are in the air and turnign the wheel lock to lock it is fairly stiff then loosens up and goes back stif again.

when it goes full lock to ethier side it almost kills the engine and makes a fairly loud noise that is uneven like clunk clunk clunk.

what could my problem be?

 

I'd think there's something wrong with your power steering pump. When mine started making noises in my old 79 TA, kinda like yours is, I replaced it along with the pump hoses and solved the problem. The screeching might have been the pulley freezing for a moment, causing the belt to squeal on the pulley. That didn't happen to my PS pump, but DID happen to my smog pump. It froze a couple times when I went for a short drive, finally freezing completely and destroying the belt. This before I realized the pump was bad, and not just a loose belt.

 

blowing doughnuts is hard on the pump (but so worth it), id replace that with new

 

convert to manual steering box... weight redux and im sure it would be cheaper... works out your arms everytime you drive 2!
Sounds win win win to me!

 

you forgot the "makes driving your car a miserable experience" which negates all other points

get a remanufactured steering box from autozone/other parts store and be done with it

 

replace the steering box or the pump/resivor?

i priced them out and the power steering pump at $105 and the gear box for over $300

 

ya i would but as i mostly city drive it would be a pain in the *** to get around in parking lots

 

Check the dealer for the gear box price. I was quoated $179 for a GM reman. I get commercial bussiness price but it was almost $100 cheaper than NAPA.

As far as the "stiff , easy, stiff with engine off, that sounds like something binding. Could be in the gear box but I would try taking the tie rod ends out and turn the wheels themselves. Stut mount plates and ball joints could cause this.

 

ive driven a third gen equipped with power steering, but with the pump disconnected... it wasnt so bad... maybe its all that red meat i eat... lol.

Then again parking lots did suck...

 

and thats worse than a manual steering box most of the time

manual gear boxes from certain s-10's bolt right in (i believe almost all of the manual boxes around those years), are pretty much bulletproof, and hella cheap.

these cars aren't hard to drive with a manual box like alot of other cars or trucks are either, steering stays responsive and smooth.

but powersteering can save your life in a bad situation, especially in bad situations on rough roads...

i spun out on a fairly rough road in the rain once, and went through some pretty hairy stuff sideways, I doubt I could've controlled my car quick enough to stop the spin with a manual box. there was alot of "GO LEFT WITH THE SPIN, NOW RIGHT, NO LEFT, BACK RIGHT, HOLD IT STRAIGHT, BACK LEFT NOW" all the while the wheel was trying to jump around while plowing through uneven road.

then again... my powersteering pump got wet and the pulley started slippin on the belt once, and it'd catch, then slip, then catch, all while taking a pretty steep offramp at a sharp right... i almost dropped off the edge of that offramp like four times, slowing down gradually the whole time with some d i ckhead riding my a s s