Heavy Rain = Steering Loss?

[bracohen]

Hello,

 

I have a '99 Lumina and during a 3-4 day rain period the car's steering locked up intermittently. I turned the wheel, heard a screeching and the wheel became literally unmovable until the screeching stopped some seconds later. Luckily it happened on my street when I pulled out of the drive, so nothing bad happened. I was able to recreate it a few times. I suspected the power steering pulley was slipping, but don't know for sure. Has this happened to any of you all, and can anyone provide some insight?

 

Thanks.

[Imp558]

See if the belt still has good tension

[digitaloutsider]

When is the last time you got a new serp belt?

[Imp558]

Since idler pulleys are cheap from rockauto and the problem is intermittent this may be a good opportunity to order pulleys, tensioner and a belt and spend an hour doing everything.

[Galaxie500XL]

I used to have severe water issues and the serpentine belt on the 3.0 V6 LeBaron..in fact, reading the TSB's almost everyone did. 

 

A new tensioner helped, but a Goodyear Gatorback serpentine belt cured it.  It had grooving that made it easier for water to squeeze out from the sides of the belt. 

 

That was was several years ago, not sure if they're even made anymore. 

[Nas Escobar]

Goodyear doesn't make them anymore. They're now made by Continental and the belts are called "Continental Elite"

[Turbocharged3800]

probably a worn belt but check to make sure that the RF splash shield wasn't removed by anyone....covers the belt drive from splashes. turn your wheels to the right and look at the engine with your head next to the tire/wheel well and make sure you see a black plastic cover and aren't staring directly at your belt/crank pulley/ac pulley

[bracohen]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I replaced the tensioner and serpentine belt, hopefully that takes care of it.