Hey guys, i need help. Here's the story. I had my car for about a year. It was purchased last winter and it seemed to run pretty well until now. When I was driving in the city, I noticed that the power steering suddenly stopped working. It felt like something's kicking (REALLY HARD TO TURN), so I brought it to the shop, but they said they couldn't find the problem yet. I'm worried cuz it could be very dangerous. They said the lines, pump, and fluid are all fine. Any ideas?

 

Maybe something with the suspension?

 

Sometimes it helps to fill out the Car and Location fields in your User Profile, otherwise we're guessing at what model and year car you drive.

Bring it to a reputable dealership or a shop that specializes in Subaru. The shop that has already looked at it should have been able to find the cause as long as they were able to duplicate problem.

Does it lose power assist all the time, or just occasionally? How is the condition of the drive belt for the power steering unit? Have you driven through any deep standing water that could've caused an old belt to momentarily slip?

Loss of power steering assist is dangerous. Get it checked out soon.

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0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Well it's a 2005 WRX Sedan. I live in central canada, where it can go down do 40 below. but I drove it last year and it was fine until this year..... The loss of power steering wasn't there all the time. It happens occasionally. And when I brought it to the dealership, they said they tested the wheels and the lines and everything was fine. So I don't know what could've caused the problem.

 

If the lines, pump and fluid are ok...then maybe it's the belt that drives the pump? That makes sense for an intermittent-in-the-cold problem as well...cold belts don't have much friction. I don't really know too much about power steering though...

 

me (05 sti) and a buddy of mine (05 wrx) had the same problem. it got to about 20 below and my steering was doing the same thing. took it to the dealership and at first they couldnt find anything wrong. i told them to test drive it in the parking lot (at parking speeds) and it malfunctioned for them. they hooked it up to a machine and said my power steering pump was not holding the minimum pressures. they changed the power steering pump and everything is fine. subaru said an internal seal must have broke during the very cold weather.