How bad an idea to drive without P/S?

[Red Nightmare]

I know where the leak is, it is where the pressure line connects to the steering gear area.

REAL fun to get to.

I need to replace the line but in the meantime, I don't know if I feel like buying a quart of fluid every 3 days.

 

So, if I just drive around without the power steering working at all, is it gonna fry the pump?

 

Right now the thing groans loudly and power assist is about gone, just has the spots where it might try to assist and then the dead spots.

 

Boy is it a pain to turn that wheel!

 

Anyways if the only real consequence is hard steering, I can live with that but what does it mean for the pump? I don't want the pulley to come flying out or does it have it's own lube instea of PS fluid

[bowtieguy]

I wouldnt drive it without fluid. It will ruin the pump.

[brake]

The fluid lubes the pump. See if a little bottle of Lucas will seal up your leak for the time being.

[94 olds vert]

It will likely damage your pump, but of its already dead it won't matter. I've driven on a bad ps pump for months and it does suck. The wheel is hard to turn, but it is do able.

[1990lumina]

I drove my 90 Lumina with no fluid for a month before I got around to fixing it..pump was fine. Didn't even make any noises afterwards either.

[Addicted To Boost]

My 88 GP was driven with NO fluid for god knows how long before I picked it up... and it leaked like a sieve until I fixed the leaking line, so I drove it for some time with no fluid in it too. The PS pump still worked, but running it with no fluid ruined the shaft seal and it would leak under high pressure. In the end, I had to replace the pump as well.

[94 olds vert]

The pumps are easy to replace on these cars. It took me several different aftermarket pumps before I got on that worked. My power steering works great now.

[tornado_735]

Transmission fluid is pretty much the same thing, and is way cheaper than power steering fluid. You could keep putting that in until you get the leak fixed. I used trans fluid in my pump on my 1991 CS, and I never had a single problem after I fixed the major leak (it still dripped somewhere else, half a quart or so every 3-4 weeks)

[Addicted to eaton]

When the rack when out of my 97 it got a leak... and i was sitting in line at a toll road. And it stuck, And the pulley fell off lol.

[Red Nightmare]

I might then just use the trans fluid until I can get around to fixing the pressure line which is leaking where it meets the steering box area.

 

I have had the pump off before so I know that is an easy job. the reservoir gasket was leaking that time.

 

I guess then driving it dry is maybe a 50/50 on ruining the pump but it was a nightmare to try steering so that alone convinced me to not let it stay dry.

[xtremerevolution]

There's a great solution to this. Use BARS power steering stop leak. Its highly and universally recommended by the Jaguar community for old 70s and 80s models jags.. What they do is they refill the system with this stuff. When the level drops, they fill it up again with the stop leak and repeat until the power steering fluid stops leaking. They say that no matter where the leak is, be it hose, seal, pump, eventually this will plug it up. As an added bonus, it quiets down noisy pumps.

 

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[tornado_735]

I might then just use the trans fluid until I can get around to fixing the pressure line which is leaking where it meets the steering box area.

 

I have had the pump off before so I know that is an easy job. the reservoir gasket was leaking that time.

 

I guess then driving it dry is maybe a 50/50 on ruining the pump but it was a nightmare to try steering so that alone convinced me to not let it stay dry.

 

I can't begin to tell you how many thousands of miles I went with straight transmission fluid in my res. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than PS fluid, and you don't run so much of the risk of burning up the power steering pump until you can get the leak fixed.

Edited December 25, 2011 by tornado_735

[xtremerevolution]

I can't begin to tell you how many thousands of miles I went with straight transmission fluid in my res. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than PS fluid, and you don't run so much of the risk of burning up the power steering pump.

 

We had a guy named eddie here with leaks in all fluids on his LQ1 Lumina Z34. I watched him accidentally dump an entire quart of trans fluid in his power steering pump. When he realized it, he said "oh well, it will leak out in a week anyway."

 

I don't think power steering systems are too sensitive to the type of fluid used.

 

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[94 olds vert]

BARS stop leak helps to quite down the ps pump?

 

If that's the case I'd like to remove some of the fluid and replace it with that in the Cutlass. That thing whines so much and it gets annoying after a while. The pump makes great power, but just whines.

[xtremerevolution]

BARS stop leak helps to quite down the ps pump?

 

If that's the case I'd like to remove some of the fluid and replace it with that in the Cutlass. That thing whines so much and it gets annoying after a while. The pump makes great power, but just whines.

 

It worked on my L27's power steering pump.

 

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[94 olds vert]

Then next time I get it running I'll do that then.

[carkhz316]

My auto tech professor informed me that "cold-weather" PS fluid is nothing other than re-labeled trans fluid. My old 91 Euro had a bad leak for months, back in the day. Ran it dry for quite awhile during my commutes to school (~90 miles per day). When I finally got around to fixing the leaking line, the pump was just fine afterwards and for the last few years I owned it after that. I even dumped 5w30 in it when I was in a bind to drive it around in town once. Never hurt it.

[Red Nightmare]

OK I might give the BARS a run also...

 

One thing, I might go ahead and replace the pressure line seals cause it looks like that is the leak (unless the hose is cracked under the bolt)

 

I was thinking of maybe pulling off the master cylinder (which includes the ABS system).

Is that a practical way to try to get to the line? I know I would have to bleed the brakes something serious after or would I be asking for a lot more trouble than just air in the brakes if I did this?

 

It looks like the pressure hose would be easy to get to if the master cylinder wasn't in the way.

I don't relish the thought of crawling around under the car and messing with the steering linkages to drop the sub-frame. I can already see that re-lining it up would be a bitch

[AL]

Try rocking the engine forward

[gpchris]

Not only will the pump be fucked you have to worry about the u-joint and the linkage before the rack. Steering without any assist puts 10 times as much stress on those parts, Probably more. Unless you absolutely have to, I would not test those parts. Its just not worth it.

[Red Nightmare]

Well I finally got to it today...

The pressure line at the rack was loose, not sure how that could have happened.

 

Basically after raising and supporting the car, I was trying to figure out if that pressure line nut was a 16 or an 18.

 

18 of course.

I got the wrench on and noticed the nut moved easily, like insanely easy.

 

I did have to drop the subframe a couple inches to have SOME room to work... meaning -

position the wrench, turn it a few degrees, flip it over, turn a few degrees, flip wrench... until it felt tight.

 

Well after I started the engine, put PS fluid in, bled it a bit, refill, bled, etc...

 

I get under the car and thankfully the leak was gone, everything was dry as a nun's crack.

 

Had that nut been tight like they say, I don't know how I would have removed the hose cause there is just very little room to work.

 

Power steering pump is no more noisy than it has ever been but at least it seems to be working normally again, good as it ever will.

 

I had been dreading this job to the point of my stomach hurting, and really, it wasn't THAT bad. I think fixing the distributor cap leak is a lot bigger nightmare.

[xtremerevolution]

Well I finally got to it today...

The pressure line at the rack was loose, not sure how that could have happened.

 

Basically after raising and supporting the car, I was trying to figure out if that pressure line nut was a 16 or an 18.

 

18 of course.

I got the wrench on and noticed the nut moved easily, like insanely easy.

 

I did have to drop the subframe a couple inches to have SOME room to work... meaning -

position the wrench, turn it a few degrees, flip it over, turn a few degrees, flip wrench... until it felt tight.

 

Well after I started the engine, put PS fluid in, bled it a bit, refill, bled, etc...

 

I get under the car and thankfully the leak was gone, everything was dry as a nun's crack.

 

Had that nut been tight like they say, I don't know how I would have removed the hose cause there is just very little room to work.

 

Power steering pump is no more noisy than it has ever been but at least it seems to be working normally again, good as it ever will.

 

I had been dreading this job to the point of my stomach hurting, and really, it wasn't THAT bad. I think fixing the distributor cap leak is a lot bigger nightmare.

 

Its definitely a pain in the ass job. When I had to replace my steering rack, it reminded me of when I had to remove exhaust manifold bolts on my V12 jag. I had to lay down on top of the engine and twist my arm in all sorts of awkward angles to get to those nuts.

[METALHEAD]

I would use caution. If the power steering pump locks up you loose everything, alternator water pump. At that point you have about 2 min before you engine fries depending on the temperature outside. I wouldn't suggest it.

METAL