Hello, HT fellas,
i have a 94 accord lx, my problem is that my steering wheel is very hard to turn, i have taken the car to different shops and all of them gave me a different opinions, some says is the PS pump, others that is the rack and pinion, just yesterday i spent a lot of money on the car and there is no yunkard that has parts for this car, my question is, is there any tip to determine if its whether the pump or the rack? so i can save money to buy it online?
thanks in advance

 

Check the fluid first.
Make sure it is clean and the correct fluid.
If thick hydraulic oil is put into the system the pump/rack will not operate correctly.
Racks rarely go bad, usually they will leak or be physically damaged.
If neither check the pump and lines for obstruction.
If the feel of the steering does not change if the engine is on or off I would suspect the pump.
Jack the car up and see if the steering lightens, if so then the rack is most likely fine and the pump is just no longer working.
Is there any slop in the steering wheel?
Have you checked teh condition/tension of hte PS belt?
If it is loose or glazed it may be slipping but not squealing.
Loosen the PSpump belt and see if you can easily turn the pump. It should have some resitance from pumping fluid, but it should not be hard to turn nor should it freewheel.

 

The above post pretty much said exactly what I was going to. That said, I've never seen a rack go bad in this fashion. I'm not saying it can't happen, just that I've never seen it. Usually they are leaking or the tie rods have a ton of play. This sounds like a pump to me.

 

thank you both for your responses,
today i bought a pump from a junkyard, installed it, same thing, maybe that pump is also bad,
""""
If the feel of the steering does not change if the engine is on or off I would suspect the pump.
Jack the car up and see if the steering lightens, if so then the rack is most likely fine and the pump is just no longer working. """"

both of those things happen in my car,
im gonna follow the steps mentioned by MadMike,

the fluid was black, and the belt was tight.

 

It's only $20 for a power steering oring rebuild kit. It will take about 30 minutes to take it apart and put it back together, replacing all the orings with new ones from the kit. Even if somehow the pump isn't the cause you only lost $20. Normally when a pumps seals go bad it makes a whining noise when turning the wheel so if the pump isn't making noise it is possible the rack is somehow bad.

Keep in mind the pulley bolt is reverse threaded, you will be turning it clockwise to take it off.

 

update:

turned out the be the rack, we checked the pump and it "looked" fine, installed a spare rack and now the car is smoother, not 100% though, because when the car is at idle, is still hard, not like before but still, whenever the rpms go up, the steering is smooth, so now im going to buy a used pump and see if that solves all the problems,

thank you