Steering problem

SCOTT DALRYMPLE

MEMBER
2008 CHEVROLET IMPALA
3.5L
2WD
AUTOMATIC
77,000 MILES

Okay, gave the car to my daughter from my mother who passed, the car is in great shape for 2008 no rust from being in WNY all its life. Anyway, daughter drove the car for about 8,000 miles so far since we got it and she told me every once in while it was hard to steer. I looked into it being a mechanic and seen no leaks that I seen. I changed the fluid and seemed fine for a few days than she told me it was hard again. I took upon myself to trouble shoot and figured it was the rack and pinion so I got one and had a garage put it in since I didn't have the time, they called me and said it's still not working, so told them they to put a pump on it. Its was fixed for about 2-3 weeks and now it's back to doing it again. Checked fluid level, that's fine but the fluid is bubbly like air is getting into it but I see no leaks. I'm lost on what it can be now. Someone says it might be the reservoir cap. Any other suggestions?
Also we put an inline filter when we changed the pump.

1 Reply

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

You have air entering the system. More than likely it is one of the low pressure lines that is leaking. You more than likely will not see it leaking fluid because the pump is pressurizing the fluid which is causing the pump to actually pull air into the line rather than allow fluid to leak out. However, the bubbles or foam in the system is air. This will also cause hard power steering at times because when the pump is trying to compress air rather than fluid you lose assist.

There is no easy way to find this but you can try using soapy water to see if it is getting pulled in anywhere. It won't create bubbles like an external leak will but you are looking for it to be pulled in slightly. What I have done in the past is just go through all the lines on the pump and rack and replace o-rings and then ensure they are tight. Usually this takes care of it.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/power-steering-problems