So ive owned the car for almost 3 months now. i was leaving work the other day and decided to jump on the highway to take the on ramp rather fast. i get on the highway and get off at the next exit. i started to drive like a normal person and as i was pulling into my neighborhood the power steering was very hard to turn, i thought the car had stalled out but everything was still reading...(tach, speedo, batt, oil...etc) as i got up to about 30mph in second the steering was fine. pulled into my driveway and came to a stop and the steering was still hard to turn. I shut the car off popped the hood and checked for a few things. belt was on, the snout on the pump for the pulley didnt break. i started the car up again and the steering was still tough. so i held the car at 4krpm and the steering was fine. totally normal, but i was just at a high rpm. after talking with my boss (a mechanic) he said that there is a pressurized valve in the pump that was staying open causing the steering to be tough at low rpm and not at high rpm cause the pump wasnt getting the correct amount of fluid. anyone else have this problem? i remember seeing a post awhile back about someone else losing PS but never read the rest of the post. i let the car sit for 45 min and when my girlfriend got home i got back in the car to take it to the dealer to have it fixed....the car was back to normal, and i havent had a problem since.
sorry about the long post. input would be appreciated
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88 LX Hatch- Was fast...now parted out
06 Tungsten Grey GT- SOLD
07 Black GT- Custom Muffler Delete/BMR LCAs/Hurst Short throw/HID/Smoked Tails/Eibach Sportlines
There is a flow divider valve in the pump that was stuck partially open[dirt or a machining burr]. At idle the pump puts out a small amount of flow and it gets proportionally greater with RPM. Too much flow for highway, so the valve opens and "wastes" the excess flow back to the reservoir. If the valve sticks open it wastes all of the idle flow, thus no power. Dealer should change the valve or the whole pump under warranty.
There is a flow divider valve in the pump that was stuck partially open[dirt or a machining burr]. At idle the pump puts out a small amount of flow and it gets proportionally greater with RPM. Too much flow for highway, so the valve opens and "wastes" the excess flow back to the reservoir. If the valve sticks open it wastes all of the idle flow, thus no power. Dealer should change the valve or the whole pump under warranty.
i know. i stated the issue in my original post. just trying to see who else is having an issue
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88 LX Hatch- Was fast...now parted out
06 Tungsten Grey GT- SOLD
07 Black GT- Custom Muffler Delete/BMR LCAs/Hurst Short throw/HID/Smoked Tails/Eibach Sportlines
I lost my power steering this morning after spinning out making a left. The roads were still wet from the rain last night, but I didn't want to take the beater, because it was going to get better.
I spun completely around, I was half alseep in auto pilot for my morning drive into work, but that woke me up. After turning around I noticed that my car was drifting to the right, but before I had a chance to pull into a parking lot, it went away.
I duplicated this spin-out in a controlled environment for testing purposes (donut in empty parking lot) After driving away, the power steering went out, on top of that the fuel gauge was reading empty.
There is a flow divider valve in the pump that was stuck partially open[dirt or a machining burr]. At idle the pump puts out a small amount of flow and it gets proportionally greater with RPM. Too much flow for highway, so the valve opens and "wastes" the excess flow back to the reservoir. If the valve sticks open it wastes all of the idle flow, thus no power. Dealer should change the valve or the whole pump under warranty.
Thats good to know. I was thinking that maybe the pulley was slipping on the shaft with a broken keyway.
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07 REDFIRE GT 5 SPEED 3.55 gears
C&L Racer CAI XCAL2/Seq signals/GTAs/Steeda UDP/CHE K Member Brace W/Torq Links/J&M LCA/Spider DS/PRO.50 Shifter Hurst handle & "T"/Meziere EO2/ARH LT catted H /Prothane MM/Delet Plates/SLP BOSS 429 Scoop/Accel COP/PowerSlot/Hawk Pads/Tokico D-Spec/CHE Panhard Bar Brace/Steeda Adj. Panhard Bar/BMR F/R Sway Bars/Cervini ducktail spoiler/BMR UCA Mount/CHE UCA/GT\CS Rear Cover/AMChrome Bullets 18x9/10s/Nitto 255/45&295/45
Tillman Dyno Tune 307HP/322TQ
Ok, looking at my power steering fluid level, it is right at the min level.
I think I have ruled out any leak in the system, but unfortunately I never really took notice of the original PS fluid level. If there is any leak it is extremely slow.
I am now pretty sure the spinning out and then doing the donut, caused the pump to suck down some air.
A) is there any way to confirm that this is what happened
B) can I just add some fluid to prevent this from happening in the future?
Ok, looking at my power steering fluid level, it is right at the min level.
I think I have ruled out any leak in the system, but unfortunately I never really took notice of the original PS fluid level. If there is any leak it is extremely slow.
I am now pretty sure the spinning out and then doing the donut, caused the pump to suck down some air.
A) is there any way to confirm that this is what happened
B) can I just add some fluid to prevent this from happening in the future?
You can add fluid... Did you hear any whining from the steering after it happened?.
Ok, looking at my power steering fluid level, it is right at the min level.
I think I have ruled out any leak in the system, but unfortunately I never really took notice of the original PS fluid level. If there is any leak it is extremely slow.
I am now pretty sure the spinning out and then doing the donut, caused the pump to suck down some air.
A) is there any way to confirm that this is what happened
B) can I just add some fluid to prevent this from happening in the future?
Don't do the Donuts anymore
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07 REDFIRE GT 5 SPEED 3.55 gears
C&L Racer CAI XCAL2/Seq signals/GTAs/Steeda UDP/CHE K Member Brace W/Torq Links/J&M LCA/Spider DS/PRO.50 Shifter Hurst handle & "T"/Meziere EO2/ARH LT catted H /Prothane MM/Delet Plates/SLP BOSS 429 Scoop/Accel COP/PowerSlot/Hawk Pads/Tokico D-Spec/CHE Panhard Bar Brace/Steeda Adj. Panhard Bar/BMR F/R Sway Bars/Cervini ducktail spoiler/BMR UCA Mount/CHE UCA/GT\CS Rear Cover/AMChrome Bullets 18x9/10s/Nitto 255/45&295/45
Tillman Dyno Tune 307HP/322TQ
You can add fluid... Did you hear any whining from the steering after it happened?.
The first time, which was unintentional, I didn't really connect the problem to the power steering. It only took 10s from the time I realized that my car was pulling to the right for the steering to start working again. I was on a straight road, so I had little steering input and never noticed that the power steering wasn't functioning
It wasn't until the intentional donut that I realized there was no power steering when pulling out of the parking lot. We pulled over, opened the hood, realized that there was no power steering, and then after a few more seconds it worked again. I don't recall any whining noise.
I'm pretty sure I am not the first person to do a donut, just doesn't seem normal to have the power steering quit.
Just last night I experienced the same happening as Itchy. After a donut or two, I was driving home and noticed while coasting through a turn that I'd lost power steering, but once i continued down the road after engaging the clutch (higher rpms) it went back to normal. My PS fluid level is also right at the minimum mark, so is it possible that some fluid got in there and thats why I started having issues?
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98 Mustang GT Black on Tan Leather- filter, catted x-pipe, Flowmaster 40's, PI head/intake swap, Chromemoly K-member/control arm and coil-over conversion, Koni yellows, SS brake lines, cryo treated slotted rotors, Hawk HP Plus pads ~191 RWHP (before PI swap with a blown head gasket, hence the swap )~
08 Mustang GT Black on Black Leather- Warranty car for college. Down the road either a Procharger or twin turbo at high boost after a full drivetrain build ~276 RWHP~
Just last night I experienced the same happening as Itchy. After a donut or two, I was driving home and noticed while coasting through a turn that I'd lost power steering, but once i continued down the road after engaging the clutch (higher rpms) it went back to normal. My PS fluid level is also right at the minimum mark, so is it possible that some fluid got in there and thats why I started having issues?
I went around two traffic circles to see how fast I could go and my gas gauge went to empty.I only had a quarter tank of gas.It didn't go back to normal until I filled the tank.Must have flipped the gauge in the tank.
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2006 Gt Premium coupe,automatic,white with red Shelby stripes,18 in.wheels,seq lites,plem. cover,Rouse hood scoop and flowmasters,Steeda strut brace,Steeda polished stainless fuse and radiator covers,rear camera(Boyo tag cam)thru Crimestopper rear mirror.Ford molded mud flaps,Silverhorse polished billet fuel door,and chrome console trim.
Sorry...*air bubble* not fluid. I would hope there's fluid in there
So do you think an air bubble could have caused the flow divider valve to malfunction? Because what I experienced sounds exactly like what people were describing with the flow divider valve.
Anywho, yesterday, just after I posted here I took the car out and to my surprise (and relief) it seems to have resolved itself. So I guess if it was an air bubble it must have worked its way out of the system or something. I'll definitely top off the fluid to make sure it doesn't happen again though.
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98 Mustang GT Black on Tan Leather- filter, catted x-pipe, Flowmaster 40's, PI head/intake swap, Chromemoly K-member/control arm and coil-over conversion, Koni yellows, SS brake lines, cryo treated slotted rotors, Hawk HP Plus pads ~191 RWHP (before PI swap with a blown head gasket, hence the swap )~
08 Mustang GT Black on Black Leather- Warranty car for college. Down the road either a Procharger or twin turbo at high boost after a full drivetrain build ~276 RWHP~
Sorry...*air bubble* not fluid. I would hope there's fluid in there
So do you think an air bubble could have caused the flow divider valve to malfunction? Because what I experienced sounds exactly like what people were describing with the flow divider valve.
Anywho, yesterday, just after I posted here I took the car out and to my surprise (and relief) it seems to have resolved itself. So I guess if it was an air bubble it must have worked its way out of the system or something. I'll definitely top off the fluid to make sure it doesn't happen again though.
I don't think you have anything to worry about. If it happens again, park the car and slowly turn the steering from stop to stop and that will work out any air.
2007 Mustang GT...Loss of Power Steering 
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