I just picked up a 1994 Camaro with the 3.4. Man its as clean as my 2000 Z24! (well ok it has a few minor paint blemishes, but the think is awsome!)

The p/s fluid is almost a rust color but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it. should I worry??? The thing also seems to have the weak steering box fate the thirdgens had. I thought they fixed this! It squeeks like my '88 did when you do a hard turn

(Stupid Geico let me have $220 mo. full coverege for the Z24 for two months then came back well if you want to keep your insurance you gotta pay $560 mo!!! Something about beeing a high risk? Well the cheapest Full Coverage I could find was $375 and thats still too much cuase I gotta pay the $145 car payment on top of that! So I got this '94 to save money almost $300 a month considering I will only have liability and won't have a car payment!)

Hey I don't have to do the 3.4 Boogie! I kinda getting used to the lines of the car, thirdgens still look better, but after coming from a 31k driver I wanted reliablity!! I love to be in a Camaro again "I was made for this bro!"

 

go to
www.fbodyv6.com
they're a nice comunity.
I just bought a 1997 Camaro 3.8L 5 speed a couple weeks ago.

 

BTw
I pay $1050 canadian for a year for insurance.
Full coverage...
$1,000,000 liability.

 

The noise is probably just the p/s pump blowing off excess pressure so you don't crack the box in half. Never heard of our 82-92 steering boxes being weak! If the p/s fluid worries ya, just flush it out with new fluid.

 

??? ??? Wonderbar ??? ???

So this is nothing to stress over?

 

The wonderbar has nothing to do with the steering box. It has everything to do with the spot on the frame that the steering box mounts to. The boxes aren't weak... and I can show you a box with 254,000 miles on it!

Aren't the 4th gens rack & pinion steering, anyway?

 

4th Gens are rack and pinion. I like the simplicity of our setup, it's funny to watch Nascar and see their setup looks very similar to ours.

 

doh, don't I feel stupid I got confugled The front end looks a lot different under the '94. I haven't had time to look at it to understand how it works let alone find out what a rack and pinion is and how that works. I will learn though... I try to learn whatever I can when I have time. Lately I have been doing a lot of research into taking a sbc abart, and rebuilding it. I have dont minor research into the thirdgen suspension but I don't think I fully grasp all of it yet. I really need to see it with my own eyes to fully undsterstand it all...

 

What are the advantages of rack and pinion over the pitman design? As far as I've always known, it's just two things, weight and "less space". Personally I'm glad the 3rd gens use regular linkage; less costly to replace!

Do the 4th gens have a p/s fluid cooler? My '86 has one, although it seems that my GM service manual "implies" that only v8 cars got one. The p/s pump connection diagram for the 2.8 LB8 show the hoses going right to the box- without the cooler in the diagram.

 

My brother has a 99 Z28 and the SS was the only car that could have a P/S cooler as an option. It turns out a lot of 4th gen guys complain about their P/S pump going so some put on a cooler. On our cars at least on my 88 we do have a crude cooler. If you follow the lines out of your steering gear they run under your radiator and then back to the P/S pump. These steel lines running out and back probably does something and it's better than nothing. By the way if you have ever seen the P/S cooler for the like 98-2000 Camaro it is pretty lame. The cooler following the same principle as the stock transmission cooler. There is a connector that allows engine coolant to pass through and has two P/S lines go through it thus using the engine coolant to cool it. Again, that is a rather crude stock cooling mechanism GM offered on the 4th gens.

Look at #12 in the diagram that is your cooler if you have it. I know this diagram applies to 88-89 2.8L.

 

By the way if you need that pipe:

#12 ----------------- GM# 10064936
#13 ----------------- GM# 11504029 (part # doesn't work but there is probably a new one)

#7 is rubber hose and it's just 3/8" inside diameter GM# 7828506

 

if you have ever heard of BG products or know a place that uses it, they have a power steering flush machine that works pretty well. it gets most or all of the old stuff out and even brings new life back to the steering. call around, IMO its worth it. theres also seal conditioners and crap that go in it as well. if you can, give it a try.

 

I watched Horsepower TV once and they were changing out the rack and pinion on a Mustang. To flush the fluid out of the Mustang's P/S system they unhooked the igniton coil wire and turned the engine over a few times. While doing this they had one of the P/S hoses off so they could catch it in a container. They just kept filling the reservoir in the P/S pump till it came out clear. I think they also did this to prime the system when changing the pump and rack to make sure there was fluid in the whole system.

 

Yep, same procedure for our pitman design! Thanks for that shot of the cooler installation; my '86 GM book doesn't have that picture, even though I have a cooler on there. Any other '86 guys out there with p/s coolers? Or did the previous owner add one on to my car (doubtful!!) ??

 

My 86 has the cooler too. I know its been a V6 since day one. I bet it was just easier to put them on them all, instead of just some of them.

Matt

 

I got that picture out of this Camaro Parts and Illustration CD I purchased and it was worth the $25. Here is the address for it http://www.metzcon.com/fbodymanual/order.htm

 

I was going to say, sometimes that rust looking color is due to some people using dextron III trans fluid in their p/s pumps. I used to put that stuff in all the time in my old jeep when the p/s seal was blown out. Rebuilding a p/s pump, what a *****! Anyway, after the fluid gets really old it tends to look like that.

What I did when I rebuilt that last pump was drained all the oil all out (all that I could get by draining the lines, and then filling. Starting the car, turning the wheel sharp one way, and then full the other way a few times. Then check the fluid level, and do the previous step a few more times to ensure all the bubbles are out of the lines. When I did that, I think I would slowly turn the wheel back and forth for about 5 minutes.

Works good now.

On a side note, I've heard from my mechanic friend that he's heard of people never changing the pump fluid and still having all of the parts last well over 300k/mi. So, I really wouldn't worry about it too much unless you stick your finger in and notice metal shavings. Most pumps also have a little magnet in them to help catch them things I noticed. Cheers!


-Dan