oh ya, the free play is a good inch both ways

 

you might have to replace the rack and pinion. do you know how to check to see if your tie rods are good?

 

no.. but my dads a alignment mechanic (well majority of his work are alignments lol), so were going to get the car in the shop hopefully soon and he'll take a look.. I am just trying to figure stuff in advance to hopefully make work on the car easier.



do you got any ideas about the power steering failing?

 

the PS on these cars is the first system to vary the power assist. so there are several "weird" parts to the system.



the control unit, looks at vehicle speed, steering angle, AND speed, rpm and a couple of other things to decide on how much steering assist to give you.



if it does not get one of these inputs, it has a fail safe, like with the speed signal, it assumes you are going really fast, and gives you very little assist.



it will also beep. the series of beeps tells you what the fault is.



if you search for the shop manual, its online, and the electrical portion of the steering is in section 15.

 

inner tie rods and/or rack and pinion for your play and you unable to go straight

 

last night i was messing around in the rain and bounced on the revlimiter for less than a second in 3rd gear and my p/s went away. i just drove it home and when i investigated in the morning there was plenty of fluid and no leaks and it worked fine. Mine didnt beep or buzz though, except the normal revlimiter buzz.

 

maybe your car didnt like it so its like until you turn me off you dont get p/s

 

hahah maybe. i felt bad after i hit the limiter... i said i was sorry.

 

maybe you hurt her feelings