no more power steering
 

took a shit on me yesterday.
makes a wierd noise. slower speeds , turns are half-powered, to not at all, with a struggling, thumping noise / feel

i am not so mechanically inclined and did not know about changing out or flushing the power steering fluid. for all i know, unless this was done at some point during a service, this is the original fluid at about 105k.
it is a dark orange.
it was also at the low level. so i went topped it off with new , clear yellow p.s. fluid. it did make a difference. but it is still not great. do i have to flush it out, and replace with brand new? if, so how?

this is a '99 altima.

May be better off replacing the pump. Not sure about new but you can get one at a junk yard prety cheap, and will need to rent or obtain a pulley removal tool as well.

Tom

Hit a junkyard or even reconditioned from an auto supply place.

Not sure on how tight it is in the engine bay of a 99 Altima but to replace a power steering pump isn't really a big job. Just an annoying one (tight access, 3-4 bolts total to loosen up and it's always that last one that either doesn't budge or you discover at the last minute that you only have space to turn the wrench one micrometer at a time.


some videos
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/vi...g-pump-169473/

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/vi...series-263181/

I remember that from my camaro, plenty of room under the hood but the hose going into the back was a pita to get to.

Tom

damn that autozone prick makes it look easy.


i was told it was not on the serpentine belt, that video shows it is?

from http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question...2175804AADlBDo

"only two ways it can go! one wrong turns the waterpump backward the alternator water pump p.s. belt that is. The air conditioning belt is easy. Let me describe there is limited room to feed the belt around in. First thing be safe use jack stands to support the car after lifting car. First couple times doing this job you might want to remove the right front wheel and inner plastic cover to get a better look at the pulleys. Clockwise from the crank shaft (where both belts are driven) Crank, to powersteering pump, over it to under the idler below the motor mount up to the alternator pulley, now down to the water pump ( smooth back of the belt drives the water pump) this is key! then back to the crank pulley. You will tension this belt once now and latter one month from now when it wears a little.
Source(s):
Nissan Master Technician"

Pulley stuff


if your keeping the car you may want to pick up a Haynes or chilton manual.
Pretty handy if you are going to be doing your own work.

i have a manual somewhere. not sure of the brand.

Whoah. You don't want to run out and replace the pump without doing any other troubleshooting :willy: You could just be throwing your money away.

Can you get the car up on ramps or jackstands to look underneath? You want to find out where the fluid is actually going... most likely, it's a fitting on one of the hoses. If you can get the car up on stands safely, with the weight off the front wheels, turn the engine on, make sure the car is in park, and turn the wheel lock-to-lock, see if the feel or sound changes at any particular point.

I'd use a turkey baster to empty the pump tank, fill it with fresh stuff, and drive the car for a bit. Then repeat. While you're doing that, see if you've lost a visible amount of fluid over that time. You'll want to check the level when the car is at roughly the same temperature.

See if the steering improves with fresh fluid before you start throwing parts at the problem.

i cant get it on a stand at my house, but a buddy has a shop that can help.

i will try the turkey baster, with 2 fresh rounds of the stuff.

there was a change for the better when i topped off with the new stuff.