1995 Dodge Intrepid Loss of power assist

DUVALKG

MEMBER
1995 DODGE INTREPID
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC
90,000 MILES

A few months ago, my mother had an incident with her car where it suddenly lost power steering and power brakes. She managed to stop the car, and when I got there, the car was fine. She continued to drive the car for 2-3 months without further incident, however, yesterday the same thing happened again. By the time "help" arrived, the car was fine. What could cause this intermittent problem?

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 AT 10:46 AM

5 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,176 POSTS

First, they are two seperate units that can fail when the engine dies. Is that what happened? Is it both PS and brakes that are affected?

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Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 AT 12:07 AM

DUVALKG

MEMBER
3 POSTS

I questioned her about this and she denies that the engine died. On this particular day, she says that she drove without incident to the store and as she accelerated from a stop in the store parking lot, she realized that she had no power brakes or power steering, and that the car was still running.

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Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 AT 8:53 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,176 POSTS

That is odd. If that is the case, there has to be two seperate problems, or the engine idle was so low, the PS pump didn't assist. Same with the brakes. Have you checked to see if there are any leaks in the vacuum hose from the intake to the power brake booster? Also, have you ever checked to see if the booster will hold pressure by using a gauge?

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Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 AT 9:48 PM

DUVALKG