inkedup

My fiance drives a 95 civic coupe. For the past few weeks when she first starts the car up in the brutal cold it feels like the power steering is gone but worse. I mean I can barely turn the wheel, but after about 10 minutes or so the car warms up and the steering feels fine. This only happens when its around 30 and below, when the weather warms up, there is no problem.

The PS fluid has been topped off and it seems to run good other than that first 10 minutes...

What do you guys think the problem could be?

inkedup

bump

EJgsr

its the fluid being cold and the to "thick" for the pump to move it.
its that simple.

Libertariat

Can you put anti-freeze in PS fluid? Just a curiosity, if there is any kind of anti-freeze agent that would be very helpful.

Miracle

Not really... power steering fluid doesn't freeze... it is petroleum based, so it DOES get thick when chilled.

I would THINK like a diesel fuel anti-gel MAY work... but I wouldn't want to be the first to try it.

pdiggitydogg

Honda ps fluid is pretty sensitive...
You cant even put generic ps fluid in the system without gumming everything all to hell.
Its cold outside...you should be letting the car warm up for 5mins+ anyways.

inkedup

^She does warm up the car in the winter but the problem keeps getting worse. This morning I let it warm up for over 10 minutes and the steering remained stiff for at least the first 10-15 minutes of driving after the initial warm up.

dpkelly

Fluid only flows in the system when the wheel is turned. And the fluid does not have a heater to warm it up (i.e. no coolant lines flowing in or around the steering assembly). Just grin and bear it. I have the same issue with my '92 civic. I thought it was a ball joint seizing but it wasn't. For some reason, though it seems worst this season.

dafuzzbudd

sounds like the fluid is frozen
afer you warm your car for a few minutes it should be fine
it's just normal

Miracle

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dafuzzbudd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sounds like the fluid is frozen</TD></TR></TABLE>

Petroleum = won't freeze.

nonsense

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Miracle &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Petroleum = won't freeze.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is the Honda PS Fluid hygroscopic like brake fluid is? If it is then perhaps a higher concentration of water in the fluid causes it to slush up more than fresh fluid would? I would change the fluid completely to see if that helps at all.

Hatchy-Ownzjo0

All you cry babies and your power steering not working. Take that **** out and it wont even be a problem.

sql_civic

iTrader: (3)

X2. No power steering here.

WhiteOnRice

I'm having a similar problem that lasts about 30 seconds... in Wisconsin... -15 degrees right now. I am not using Honda PS fluid either. I would use a different fluid.

inkedup

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hatchy-Ownzjo0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">All you cry babies and your power steering not working. Take that **** out and it wont even be a problem. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hey if it was my car I would of probably got rid of the PS a long time ago but this is my fiance's bone stock daily driver which she uses to commute 90 miles a day. So its nice to have power steering

Hopefully we will only have another week or so of this 0 degree weather in Chicago, if the problem continues I will probably drain the fluid and replace it with Honda PS fluid.

thanks for the help guys

2coupes

i have this problem as well as my friends lude too...would taking off the PS belt fix the problem temporarily until full PS removal?