Have reviewed everything I can see posted on power steering problems regarding stiffness, nothing seems to address my specific issue.

1996 Accord LX Wagon, 4 cyl with AT. My daughter drives it to school daily. About 140K miles on it.

One night she reported the steering was very stiff when she turned on the car. I replaced the PS pump, drained most the fluid and added new fluid (certified for hondas). No change at all. Had mechanic put it up on a lift, and steering moved freely. They suggested replacement PS pump again as the new one might be bad. I swapped it out with another PS pump. Still no change. Cranked the wheel back and forth 10 times to try and remove any air in the lines. No change.

An auto mechanic friend with considerable experience suggested 1) a piston in the rack and pinion system could be failing, or 2) the weight of the car is compressing something in the steering mechanism, so although it moves freely when no weight is on the suspension (up on the rack) it jams up under the weight of the vehicle. I called the Honda dealer and they confirmed there is a piston in the steering system that could go bad. Their suggestion was to rebuild the rack and pinion steering system - $600 in labor alone.

Any advice on possible causes and remedies? Can the piston be replaced without rebuilding the entire rack and pinion system?

Thanks.

 

I agree that an internal failure of the steering rack is most likely. Repair in place is not possible to my knowledge.

Good used or rebuilt units are available at reasonable prices ($35-$200); check ebay for rebuilt and used. Check car-part.com for used units near your zipcode.

Get installed by someone who's done this job before on a 94-97 Honda Accord. Check youtube for videos of the job if you DIY.

good luck

 

p/s pumps rarely fail unless they leak. i would avoid installing a used unit...crap shoot at best. Rockauto has remanf. units starting at 150 bucks plus core charge. also install a filter kit to catch any crap in the system/lines. job calls for about 5 hours labor...can be done with jack stands but a lift is preferable

 

Thanks for the excellent advice. Mark

 

Have tried all suggested remedies so far, to no avail. Here is the latest summary of all work done to try and fix the power assist/stiffness in steering for this Honda.

1996 Accord LX Wagon, 4 cyl with AT. About 140K miles on it.

One night last fall the steering became very stiff. I replaced the PS pump with rebuilt, drained most the fluid and added new fluid (certified for Hondas). No change at all. Had mechanic put it up on a lift, and steering moved freely. They suggested replacement PS pump again as the new one might be bad. I swapped it out with another rebuilt PS pump. Still no change. Cranked the wheel back and forth 10 times to try and remove any air in the lines. No change. Temporarily replaced the PS pump with a used one verified as working from another Honda Accord. No change. Replaced PS pump with the previous rebuilt/new pump.

An auto mechanic friend with considerable experience suggested 1) a piston in the rack and pinion system could be failing, or 2) the weight of the car is compressing something in the steering mechanism, so although it moves freely when no weight is on the suspension (up on the rack) it jams up under the weight of the vehicle.

I replaced Rack and Pinion with new/rebuilt. No change. Cranked steering wheel back and forth 10 times while front end jacked up to try and bleed any air. No change. Note: While steering was disconnected to replace rack and pinion, confirmed the steering column moves freely.

Next, blew out the lines, and replaced the main high pressure line with a new one. No change.

What is there left that can be keeping this PS system from operating? Can there be something binding in the steering that the PS system can not overcome?

Any advice on possible causes and remedies?

Thanks.

 

Since the problem seems to go away when both wheels are off the ground then maybe one of the lower ball joints is binding up. Jack up one side of the front end at a time, leaving the other wheel on the ground, and turn the steering wheel back and forth. See if the problem can be isolated to one side. Ball joint failure isn't unknown on 5th Gens, although the problem is usually excessive play followed by separation. But I guess a ball joint could get rusty and seize up too.

Edit: A strut mount could bind up under load. Isolate the side that's binding.

 

I isolated each wheel to see if they were sticking/binding. No improvement with either wheel jacked, so probably not from wheel joints or such binding. Then I noticed the PS fluid level was down and pump was noisier than usual. I added fluid, and pump got quieter, but still noisy. saw no fluid leak evidence, so suspect just air bleed is the issue. Drove car around and steering started getting a bit easier, more so when fully cranked in tight turn. Checked fluid level again, and it was lower again, so I added to upper line fill line again. PS pump is nosiest when i turn the wheel. The car rested for an hour and checked PS fluid level again. This time just above upper fill line.

I think we have an air lock/bleed issue. Have tried all I thought I knew on bleeding the lines -- turning wheel fully back and forth 10 times, both with engine on and did it with engine off. Does't seem to be bleeding the lines. Any other approaches?

 

You likely have a suction return leak that is introducing air into PS fluid. This increases PS effort because fluid is full of air.

The most likely places for leak are the suction hose inlet oring or the suction hose itself. Fluid pressure is below ambient on suction side so air can enter fluid stream at any defect location. Since you've replaced PS pump, the hose seems most likely.

A restricted reservoir filter would make air leak more likely by increasing suction pressure on the inlet side.

good luck

 

It seems to be losing fluid since you're having to add it. A noisy pump indicates air is being sucked into the system. My experience with pump cavitation was after a belt R&R, the pump shaft seal was brittle and started sucking air after tensioning the belt. A junkyard pump took care of the problem. And all the air bled out of the system with the procedure you described: turning the wheel lock-to-lock several times.

I count three pumps and two racks. Is the outlet hose O-ring new? Any fluid in the rack bellows?

 

Roader's observation made me rethink. I had problems w/ my MDX due to a leak on the HP side of the PS system. This allowed fluid level to get low enough that air was pulled in at reservoir when level got too low.

good luck