Hello all,

Being a auto tech, thought I would help my friend here figure what his problem is with his 2002 dodge caravan 3.3 power steering.

In the morning, he tells me that his power steering feels ridged, as if there is now power going to the power steering rack. He can shut off the engine, then start it up again and the power steering regains power again. This has happened three monning in a row. These symptoms happen when its between 2-5 degrees celcius. The symptoms do not happen when the engine is warm.

Power steering fluid has been checked and its full. Car has 176Km's and owner suspects it has original serpinetine belt.

I inspected the belt, Belt condition looks excelent. I pulled on the belt to test the streangh of the tensioner, It is fully operational and smooth.

No fluid has been lost no leaks.

I have looked wide across the net, some auto tech web sites for techs and came up with nothing.

Any feedback would be helpfull.

 

The cold weather may have a lot to do with. Just like with transmissions, colder the weather the longer it stays in low gears. Try wraping the tubes or a heating pad on the power steering reservoir.And see how that works.

 

Don't know if you can post links here but I read that the bottome of the reservoir has a screen that gets plugged. Drain fluid and cleen or replace reservoir will solve the problem.

 

His old Serpentine was in great shape, replaced it anyway. So far, he says, that the problem has been resolved,unitill it rains again so we don't know if its a total solution. His key was not able to start the car. BCAA came out and did a quick bang with a soft mallet hammer on the key, and was able to start the vehicle. Its vital, to get the tumbler replaced while it still turns, or the price can really shoot up!.

Now, when do struts usally wear out on these vehicles? He has 150km's

 

I have a problem similar with its raining or damp the belt is not moving at all being mechanically declined I felt the only fix was the tensioner was bad and not operating well when it was damp . I replaced the belt tensioner and the very next time it was damp the belt is not moving again and looks like it is sort of loose. nothing is turning except the crank I shut it off and it works fine or I can rev it up a tad and it works fine . I bet you there is a problem someone has not come up with a solution for here. I still have not figured out what could cause this problem , any one out there that has worked through something like this it would be a great thing if you posted the cure so we could get this behind us . The belt was fine no cracks running with the lenght of the belt, only small cracks across the belt . raining or damp the belt will not turn and when it is dry hot or cold it will turn , only when the temperature is moderate and it is damp is when this happens .

 

there aint no way the belt aint gonna turn at all without sqeeling like a pig and buring up dont matter if its ranning. yall replace struts and shocks when they is bad and that can be anyware from 30k to 300k dep how good they are and how bad the roads are. i had to put new struts in a yota with 40k cuz one took a crap and we gotta van with 270k on the orig susp and it seems ok still but then it aint worth the $ to replace them on a 270k van.

 

Try FLUSHING the fluid. No one ever bothers changing the fluid! The only time it seems to ever get changed is when a part is replaced (hose, pump etc).

CAUTION: You may find that some leaks will begin after flushing (especially if it's a high mileage vehicle) as some of the crud that had accumulated behind the seals (helping the worn seal to still prevent a leak) gets flushed away.

If the flush doesn't help then you're most likely looking at replacing the pump and/or rack. The system is either not generating enough pressure (pump) or the rack has an internal leak (losing the pressure and assist)

Take a guess as to what I do for a living LOL

 

That all it was is a new serpentine belt.

Generally, the news caravans are much more reliable caravans of the past. He has not has any issues since.

The magic in my field of auto repair, is at approximately what time with kms, time or weather conditions parts start to fail. It may be a hard sell to tell a customer that a part is about to fail when there may not be anything physically wrong with it but, its a smart idea to replace parts before it happens.

As a former helicopter tech, we changed items based on hours accumulated. It is prudent to do this to prevent a accident.

I had just got back from a customer who told me his vw golf was over heating. As usally, he said and his friends said the t-stat was most likely at fault. From my experiance 70% of the customers are usally wrong. I verified the issues as not the t-stat but the termal temp switch failure. I did a combustion gas test on his cooling system and sure enough, he had a blown head gasket.

What would have been the cost if he replaced the thermal temp switch every ten year or sooner if it was good or bad? 70 dollars!

Now he has a $850.00 head gasket job to do. Best to replace the cheap parts or, those cheap parts will fail causing major expenses later down the road.

This is why I ask customers do get there car inspected by a mechanic when doing there oil change. That is THE best time to find items that are about to fail or leaking! It saves the customer time...and money to do the repairs now then lose a day's worth of income AND be towed back to the garage! or have there car break down in the middle of no where on there vacation.

 

Helicopters are great if you have the urge to fly but have no where to go! (hover)

You are spot on regarding changing critical parts BEFORE they fail which can lead to a cascade failure...you just need to apply this principal to the more important things and not everything...and that's the rub!

As for the mechanic being the first line of defense....in the bad old days a good pump jockey who asked the customer "Check the oil?" would scan for worn belts, hoses that were about to burst, crusty battery cables etc. There is a fine line between "loading up the customer" and TAKING CARE OF THEM (and their car). For if not for the professional to look after it, then WHOM? Certainly not the zit farmer down at the local discount auto parts store. LOL