Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:31:22 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Advice about power steering problem
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=response
sounds weird all right.
I have a used PS rack that seems just a tad bit bind-ye going straight.
I was reading in Bentley about that ..
not going to look right now .
but what I remember is they had a few tests ..
fluid pressure from the pump ..
and it wasn't many steps before they got to 'replace rack' ..
oh right ..it was make sure the pressure part and pump were working..
measure turning effort at steering wheel if I'm remembering right ..
if that was above speck - 'replace rack' .
Like they got to that step pretty quickly ..no adjustments on the rack or
anything.
I suppose you could crack the 'in' pressure line to the rack , at the rack,
and fire up the engine ..
make sure fluid comes out of there pretty nicely under pressure ( if you
don't have some sort of pressure gauge ) .
If the pump is pumping well..
and the lines are not blocked..
and the PS give no 'power assist' ....it sure points to the rack itself , to
me.
how much are those Mavel racks in dollars ?
one of these days I need to buy a good new rebuilt one.
Used pumps make me nervous ..I had an old used pump blow out a perfectly
fairly fresh looking and good rebuilt rack about 6 months after I started
driving it, or sure looks like that's what happened.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Wilford" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 4:08 PM
Subject: Advice about power steering problem
> Dear List,
>
> I have been installing power steering racks for a very long time.
> However I have run into a strange problem with one I recently installed
> for a customer.
>
> Customer had a leaking rack. I put a new one on. The fluid in the
> system looked fine and I changed the filter to be sure there would be no
> problems.
> Power steering worked great for less than 200 miles. Then it just
> stopped working. There is no leak whatsoever. The customer brought it
> back and I tried a new power steering pump thinking that the old one had
> just died. There were fine metal shavings in the fluid this time. The
> new pump did nothing. So now I am thinking that the rack itself is
> messed up. However I have never heard of this problem. I checked the
> Bentley and they don't really seem to indicate that a heavy steering
> problem was a rack fault. Has anyone had a similar experience in the
> past? It is a Maval rack and I installed one on my own personal van
> about the exact time that I did this for customer. The one on my van is
> working great. I have sold many of them over the years and they are
> good. If anyone has any experience or advice I would appreciate the
> feedback.
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
> Phone: 856-327-4936
> Fax: 856-327-2242
