Hello my friends at HT,

My power steering is not working right ever since I replaced my wheels with Prelude wheels. After I did the 5 speed swap the power steering worked awesome, like its never worked before, %100 optimum. Now its working very poorly when stopped and at low RPM's it doesn't work at all and it whines sometimes when I go around corners... I put some Lucas additive in it and it did help the whine a lot but did not fix the performance. I was thinking it may have been the belt since its over 2 years old but I don't know I am not very familiar with power steering systems. Last time my system had a leak that was intaking air and causing the fluid to foam up and overflow... Help please.

By the way the fluid changed color and became brown instead of gold, is that normal?

 

O yeah I forgot some of the people on the Accord forum believe that they are superior to others who ask questions and thus don't answer any of mine because they think i'm a troll/newb/idiot.

 

It's been an hour;
It's Saturday;
Did you expect 15 posts in that time frame?

Drain the reservoir, put in 8 oz of SeaFoam Trans Tune with Honda power steering fluid. Let it circulate for 10mins. Then row the steering back and forth a bit, then go for a drive.

But if your steering has become heavy due to a change in wheel/tire size/compund then it is probably due to added tire grip. Put your old set of wheels back on and see if the steering returns to normal, if it does then it is due to a larger or stickier tire compound.

But if the pump was already whining it may have had an issue that Lucas goo exacerbated.

 

check the tension of your belt first and foremost...it could just be slipping

 

I think its losing fluid, maybe a leak somewhere. I did try adjusting the belt. Loosening and tightening it, didn't help. Maybe it needs replacing?

 

yes replace it but buy all new seals and hoses for the entire system at the same time

 

Now the fluid is foaming up, I know there is a leak somewhere intaking air into the system. I cannot ID where the leak is coming from though.

Really replace the belt and ALL the seals? That sounds like too much work and money to put into it. I would like to ID where the leak is and where its leaking from before I throw parts at it. Any tips?

 

Start slow and simple. Start with the connections at the PS pump.

Recheck and think about what if ay of the PS lines/connections you got "into" doing the swap?

 

There were no PS lines/connections that were fiddled with during the swap, the only thing that was changed was the connections at the speed sensor; my old AT had no PS lines going to the speed sensor but my swapped MT does, so I just added lines... Now after I had done that and got the swap up and running, the power steering worked AMAZING, like its never worked before. Then about a week or so later it started having the problem I am describing.



To try to fix this I took the reservoir off and cleaned it out real good and I repaired the hoses which were cracked with sealant. I thought that would fix it but it didn't, cause last time that was the problem.

Now its not really foaming up but its just overflowing and spilling everywhere.


I don't see any leaks coming from where the hoses connect to the power steering pump, though the main 'big' one has a crack in it which could be leaking. The crack has been there before but I had sealed it up with sealant... Could it be that my rack and pinion are bad?

If the fluid is overflowing from the reservoir, what does that mean? Its not foaming really.

 

Alright guys, the fluid is foaming up again and its puking itself all out of the reservoir. How do I fix this my power steering is not working!

 

I'm thinking maybe you accidentally swapped the two hoses that go to the steering assist assembly/speed sensor shaft. This is just a guess.

Check all your hoses again and make sure they are all correct. Also, just get new hoses for the reservoir, dude. Those things are dirt cheap. You shouldn't be trying to use sealant.

 

I had the same issue,get a PS seal kit from Honda and rebuild your pump yourself and replace your reservoir too.it has a one way screen in the bottom of it that you'll never get fully clean.you're looking at maybe $25 plus your own labor.while its apart check all of your lines for proper routing and condition.

 

Unless I used this stuff like MadMike said to,





MadMike are you serious, do you think this will work? I can find no observable leaks anywhere in the hoses or on the pump itself. Where are all the hoses located anyways?

If its foaming up and barfing all over the place, there must be a leak then right, so i maybe didn't check enough.

 

Okay so I got the diagrams. Do you guys think that the foaming and regurgitation problem is because of an internal issue with the pump or because of a leak?

hoses:





Pump:

 

Can you elaborate on this a bit more ? What lines did you add ? Did you try to use your old power steering shaft sensor assembly ?

 

All I did was reconnect the power steering lines to the speed sensor that were originally there for my 91'. Before the swap I had a 95' transmission in there that didn't have the lines. The 95' prelude MT has the sensor that comes with the lines though, that is the transmission i'm using.


Could there be dirt in the sensor that's keeping it from working maybe? I think that trans tune stuff is a good idea if that's the case.

 

Sounds like the fluid leaked out and it killed your pump. I would souce another from the junkyard and see if that fixes it.

 

Yeah but the fluid never leaked out when it was running, however the pump is old.

 

Can you post a vid of it in action ? We'd love to see what's going on.

 

Don't have time to film.

After doing research on the Cb7Tuner forum I think that my power steering pump is sucking in air from a bad gasket. So, I am ordering a seal kit to rebuilt it.

Hope this fixes the problem, I am sure it will at least help.

I read that the pump could be sucking in air even though its not leaking fluid.

 

Just overhauled the pump and its working wonderfully now. Gasket kit was about 10 bucks at rock auto and was well worth it. I have power steering now, yay.

 

sounds good...i think i'm going to pick up a kit for my pump as well...10 bucks seems like a bit of a steal

 

My bad Mishako129 I didn't see this.
It's a cleaner, if there was varnish or junk build up blocking a port, or causing a valve to jam or a seal to stick, SF TT would remove any gunk. With racks it does help remove the heavy or sticking rack problems that can occur.

If the pump had a blown seal sucking in air, then TT would not have fixed it. Still is good to flush the system.

 

I have an issue with my 99 accord power steering. I replaced the seal on the power steering pump and drained the old fluid and filled it with new fluid and now the steering is totally stiff. I jacked up there car and read that you needed to move your steering from left to right to get out any air in the lines. I've done that and tried to drive the car and nothing, I need to use extreme force just to turn the wheel, any idea how to fix this problem?