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Topic
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2005 Acura TSX
I replaced the bearing and seals in the power steering pump following the Honda/Acura service manual and online videos. Everything was put back just as the manual specifies. When I first started up the car, it was like there was no power steering at all. I drove around trying to cycle the wheel lock to lock. After about 30 mins of running errands around town, the power steering kicked in. Everything was fine for a few minutes then it went back to almost no power steering. I parked and added more power steering fluid because it had gotten a little low.
I came home and let it sit about 15 mins and came back out. The power steering worked as it should when I started the car. I turned it lock to lock about 10 times then the steering wheel almost locks up like the power steering is gone. I look in fbd reservoir and see bubbles. I shut the car off to let the bubbles die down. I repeated the above process about 5 times with the same results. The car will still drive with power steering for just a little while then it will lose it just like the driveway test mentioned. There are no leaks from the pump, but the reservoir seems to have overflowed because it is coated in fluid
Any ideas?
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Replies
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Sounds like a bunch of air in the fluid.
1. Determine whether you’re sucking in air (e.g. bad suction line seal). Obviously fix if so.
2. Bleed the air.any specific process to remove the air from the fluid? I thought the hondas of this make were self bleeding?
Check your Haynes. On some cars, just jack up the front end and run the wheel lock to lock. But with that much nonsense going on, it sounds like you’re sucking it in bigtime.
+1 to air infiltration. I would check the hose connections and o-ring. Also, there was a recall for the inlet hose, and IIRC, it would crack and leak fluid into the engine bay.
Another suspect is the pressure control (aka flow control) valve in the pump. If it sticks intermittently, then it would explain the lack of power assist. The valve can be tested by connecting the valve to compressed air with a section of tubing and submerging the outlet into a cup of water (Helm, pg 17-17). A faulty valve will leak air when the pressure is below 14.2 psi and generate bubbles while the valve is submerged in water. Unfortunately, the valve cannot be purchased separately, and a new or re-manufactured pump is needed.
[quote=”Hanneman” post=183430]+1 to air infiltration. I would check the hose connections and o-ring. Also, there was a recall for the inlet hose, and IIRC, it would crack and leak fluid into the engine bay.
Another suspect is the pressure control (aka flow control) valve in the pump. If it sticks intermittently, then it would explain the lack of power assist. The valve can be tested by connecting the valve to compressed air with a section of tubing and submerging the outlet into a cup of water (Helm, pg 17-17). A faulty valve will leak air when the pressure is below 14.2 psi and generate bubbles while the valve is submerged in water. Unfortunately, the valve cannot be purchased separately, and a new or re-manufactured pump is needed.[/quote]
[quote=”Hanneman” post=183430]+1 to air infiltration. I would check the hose connections and o-ring. Also, there was a recall for the inlet hose, and IIRC, it would crack and leak fluid into the engine bay.
Another suspect is the pressure control (aka flow control) valve in the pump. If it sticks intermittently, then it would explain the lack of power assist. The valve can be tested by connecting the valve to compressed air with a section of tubing and submerging the outlet into a cup of water (Helm, pg 17-17). A faulty valve will leak air when the pressure is below 14.2 psi and generate bubbles while the valve is submerged in water. Unfortunately, the valve cannot be purchased separately, and a new or re-manufactured pump is needed.[/quote]
Is there any way to rule out the hoses/orings/valve without taking the pump off and apart again? The symptoms now are that the car will drive perfect about a mile from starting then will lose power steering for around 30 seconds or hit a short rough patch in steering then return to normal again then mess up again in a mile (repeat process again). Does this give any hints as to the cause? There are bubbles in the reservoir after parking and checking.
If there are bubbles in the reservoir, you’re sucking in air. Checking the suction hose and seals does not require removing the pump.
What sympyoms prompted you to rebuild the pump? If these symptoms are new since the rebuild, then logically something went wrong with the rebuild.
[quote=”relative4″ post=183468]If there are bubbles in the reservoir, you’re sucking in air. Checking the suction hose and seals does not require removing the pump.
What sympyoms prompted you to rebuild the pump? If these symptoms are new since the rebuild, then logically something went wrong with the rebuild.[/quote]
Can the bubbles not also be caused by air in the system coming out?
I rebuilt the pump because of a leak on the main seal part (where the case comes together). The power steering was working 100% with no problems before. On the rebuild, I actually did not take the pressure sensor part out because it was in so tight and I did not have problems with it before, so I doubt that that would be the problem.
[quote=”JohnMark” post=183463]Is there any way to rule out the hoses/orings/valve without taking the pump off and apart again? The symptoms now are that the car will drive perfect about a mile from starting then will lose power steering for around 30 seconds or hit a short rough patch in steering then return to normal again then mess up again in a mile (repeat process again). Does this give any hints as to the cause? There are bubbles in the reservoir after parking and checking.[/quote]
Just an idea to test without disassembly: You might be able to perform a vacuum test if you have a hand-operated vacuum pump with gauge (e.g. Mity Vac) and a rubber stopper that fits in the reservoir cap, although intermittent problems can be hard to replicate. And, the system might normally leak when vacuum is applied.
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