legacycentral bbs

so i'm driving yesterday.
i'm in drive, but i'm not moving and my foot is on the brake.
i move the steering wheel left to get out of my parking space and i hear a snap. i keep moving it left more and i hear another snap, only not as loud....
i've played (bad i know) with it a little just to see what is going on and
it doesn't make the snap(s) if i have some forward movement, rather than from a standstill. it is cold outside here in MT, but that should not have much to do with it.
i know my power steering pump keeps cycling and making that darned clicking noise over and over. i have enough fluid in and it still does it.
would that explain my steering problem?
about a month ago i accidentally (i'm a retard) put in ps fluid because it was low and i didn't know what to put in at the time, and b/c itwas my 1st time adding the stuff in the car. luckily i found out differently on and drained the whole dam thing to where the 1st line (return) meets the second (return) underneath the car..basically where the whole thing screws together.
and it was working good until now. ..
i guess it's not a huge problem but it could turn into one eventually.
and also when i'm driving i've noticed that i have to put more leveradge into my left turns.

i dont get it, sorry for the lecture

thanks guys

PS Fluid in our power steering pumps tends to kill the pump, weather or not this did it to yours is not something we can really judge from here but it depends on how long you drove it that way.

snapping and popping during turns is generally suspension related; could be worn bushings and such on any number of front end suspension components. I say get down there with a flashlight and look for anything coming loose from your swaybar mounts, endlinks, and lower control arm mounts.

will do, thanks

well, and one more thing.

could it be a belt maybe?

ball joint...

I also thought ball joint.

that sounds a bit more extreme than suspension
can i fix it myself?.. if it is a ball joint?

Ive said it before but subaru hase a TSB about poping swaybar mounts, also could be strut top mounts, see if you can spray some grease or WD-40 down into the strut top bearings and see if the noise goes away for a little bit.

SubaruNation wrote:that sounds a bit more extreme than suspension
can i fix it myself?.. if it is a ball joint?

if it is a ball joint it is something you can do yourself. it's a $42 part at the dealer, aftermarket will be pretty close to that price as well.

ok just to update this,
uh.

all was well today for awhile, still the weird pop and i was going to buy the part monday.

so i just now left work and got in my car and this happened.........

1. i put the key into the drivers side door, and nothing (like the lock thing) would move... , i figure its cold outside, whatever. i get in through the passenger side eventually, and open the doors with what seems like more force than usual.

2. i turn on the car and let it sit for a min or a little more before driving.
i start to drive and turn LEFT AGAIN, and the weird pop isn' t there now, its a sound like "pssssssh" like pressure is being released somewhere.....

and when that happend, my lights also dim.

3. the steering wheel is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hard to turn, both directions and more to the left when im driving and even more so when im not, and the pressure sound keeps coming up when i steer left. there's also a squeaking noise that happens during this whole episode.

and im worried....... so much for skiing tomorrow


i

power steering rack take a crap? Check your powersteering resivior and tell me how much fuild is in it.

Drain the fluid from the rack and drive it without power (unless you want to look like Hulk Hogan. The 'pythons' I mean, not the orange skin). Also pump the front tires up with air as much as possible. If you still have weird noises, you have another issue. Perhaps there is a mechanical problem that caused the PS pump to overwork. You'll have to jack up the front end and see what moves.

just checked it (le fluid) and its fine, little low but not enough that i think it would matter.
and about those pythons, its already happening .

it's parked in the garage on the ramps. time to monkey with stuff

where do i find this ball joint you speak of?

SubaruNation wrote:just checked it (le fluid) and its fine, little low but not enough that i think it would matter.
and about those pythons, its already happening .

it's parked in the garage on the ramps. time to monkey with stuff

where do i find this ball joint you speak of?

at the end of the control arm where it meets the spindle/steering knuckle

Try pulling the wheel in and out top to bottom. If it moves at all, look at the ball joint. If there is no movement from the joint (there shouldn't be), but the wheel shakes a little, you probably have a bad wheel bearing. Then pull the wheel side to side as if trying to steer it. If there is any play in it, see where it is. If it has play at the spindle end of the steering, then you have a bad outer tie rod. If it has play coming from the rubber boot at the rack itself, then you have a bad inner tie rod.

ok so i just took out the fender liner and wiggled it side to side with my right hand on the outside of the tire pushing and with my left hand on the inside of the tire inside the fender, both of my hands were even with the lowest part of the fender.

and with that long explanation, i heard a clicking when i pushed with my right and pulled with my left, not vice versa however.

when you described this evolution, should i have my car off the drive up ramps? and on stilts?

It should be on stands or jacks. Sounds like an inner tie rod as described, but you'll have to check.

here's a picture of the only thing that moved and made noise whin i tugged.
tie bar? eh?


the bar my gangley ass finger is touching...

Inner tie rod. You mean the rod moved at the boot, not at the wheel end, right? The end at the wheel is the outer tie rod. You can replace it yourself, but you'll need an alignment either way.

yes sir it moved where the boot is.
so its still the same rod, just one end is inner and one end is outer. gotcha!
so inner is the problem then...
can i do this myself or would it be better to pay someone, and will i need an alignment?
thanks

You need an alignment no matter what. It just threads into the rack at one end and the outer tie rod threads onto the other. When you swap them you're not going to be able to thread it exactly to the measurement you want for the angle of your tires. I generally feel this is a job to pay for since it's usually not expensive labor and on an old car, moving anything that's been there for a long time is likely to be stubborn about moving, you'll need to pay for an alignment anyway, and though you can estimate a decent alignment position to drive it to the shop, you risk a little tire wear and the outside possibility of losing control.

will i need any parts?
how much will they cost if so?
i'd like to just give the part to the mechanic and tell him what to do b/c
that way i dont get charged a large amount over the top of the true cost of the part.
and i'll mostly just pay labor that way, which is fine with me.

You can order them anywhere if you know a mechanic that lets you bring them parts. It's just basically a rod with flat sides for a wrench to grab with thread on each end. To align the car, they just thread the rod in or out of the rack until they get it where it needs to be and lock it in place with a nut.

ok so i went to turn the car on (this morning ) and i applied the brake. turned the key to start up the dirty and nothing happened.

uh...... now i'm really lost because a busted inner tie rod shouldn't prevent tha car from starting.

i try to turn the key forward and nothing happens, like it wont go for some reason.

any ideas welcome, thanks

by nothing do you mean crank and no start or not even a crank?