Prius (2004-09) :: Power Steering Is Stiff
Nov 30, 2013
Our 2004 Prius (71,275 miles) has not been driven much for the last 2 years. It is only used when we need to drive further than we can comfortably in our 2012 Leaf. Most of our trips are short.
Today the power steering feels stiff. I'm relying on my memory of what it felt like when it was new. Perhaps I am comparing it to the Leaf.
I started to check the power steering fluid reservoir and discovered that the power steering is not hydraulic but electrical and electronic.
It it a sign of a failing system? Should I expect increased trouble?
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Last week I took my 2004 Honda Odyssey in to Firestone for a rear brake job and they ended up selling me an oil change, two new tires, alignment, an alternator drive belt, and two front engine mounts as well. When I picked up the vehicle late Friday afternoon, I noticed the power steering was making a whining noise and the steering seemed a little stiff. I took it back to Firestone Saturday morning, and they looked under the hood and said my power steering fluid was low, so they topped it off. That fixed the whining, but the steering still had a bit of a kink in it. They said it might be an air bubble in the line that would work itself out. Monday morning on my way to work, the whining was back and the steering very stiff and getting noticibly worse by the minute, so I took it directly back to Firestone.
It turns out the rack and pinion is leaking, and Firestone denies that it could have happened while they had the vehicle. The manager I spoke to said "all we did was replace a couple of belts -- didn't even get near the rack and pinion." Well, that's not all they did, but if anything they did could have caused the current issue. I know there were no suspension or power steering issues before I took it in, and after I picked it up suddenly it's leaking fluid like crazy. What can I do or say to press my case?
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I have a 2004 GMC Sierra and I have noticed throughout the winter when I ran it in 4WD the steering would get very stiff when trying to turn. Sometimes I could not turn very sharp at all. What the problem could be that is causing this?
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I just wanted to share with you all a cautionary tale about belt tensioners and idler pulleys. I am now a firm believer in installing the aforementioned items when you replace your drive belt. 15000 miles ago I replaced the drive belt and didn't heed the warning of some here on the forum.
For the last month or two I have noticed what sounded like road noise which I dismissed because I had just had new tires installed that had a more aggressive tread pattern than my previous tires, I also noted that the ECT had been a bit higher than normal, like running in the high 190's to low 200's on average.
Well while driving today I get the alternator warning light and lose power steering and soon after the brakes got stiff, this was followed by ever increasing ECT which got to 242* before I could get it off the road and shut down. It is too early to tell if the noises and the ECT temp rise were the result of this tensioner going out...
For what its worth the only tools required were a 10MM end wrench and a bit of skin to get the job done.
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So I have a 2006 f150 a wile back the steering started going stiff when I would come off the highway. so after some forum searching, I decided to buy a new steering shaft to repace the universals that see up. then the pump started squealing when we turned befor I could install the new shaft. so I replaced the pump and didn't put the new steering shaft in yet. now when I rev the motor past 2000 RPM the pump wines like when you turn the weeks to far to one side on an old truck and it is still stiff when I come off the highway. Could this be the rack
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So our 2006 f150 fx4 has been having an issue with stiff steering... at times like it doesn't have power steering at all.
We recently had the lower ball joints on both sides replaced. Before that the upper control arm on the drivers side was also replaced.
There are days that it is better... other times not so much.
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I have a 2011 GLS 2.4 and my steering wheel seems to be... stiff. It varies with each turning revolution I make, as well. When going around a corner, normally the wheel will straighten itself out but it just sticks and you have to fight to get it back. Is it a common problem? I am assuming it is the power steering, could it happen to be anything else?
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I have a 2001 F250 SD V10 and when at a dead stop and with the brakes applied, steering becomes very stiff and almost impossible to turn the wheels. If I let off of the brakes and move a little the steering is just fine. I hate like hell to spend the money on a new power steering pump if it isn't going to fix the problem. Simply put, deap stop, brakes on, wheels don't want to steer. How do I fix it?
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I have an 06 F-250 5.4 gas w/138k. It had recently had a lot of play on the wheel (15 degrees maybe) and last week I made the move to replace the gearbox with a redhead box. All seemed to go ok, but now the steering is stiff and it won't come all the way back to center after a turn. It turns smoothly and completely with no binding, but it has to be moved the last 1/3 turn back to center.
I flushed the fluid initially with Valvoline max life fully syn. Then second guessed myself after the problem started happening so I switched it back to regular Mercon. No improvement.
I had it on stands today and it was extremely difficult for me to turn my tires left to right manually (at the wheel). The only other thing I did was adjust the sleeve on the drag link to straighten out the steering wheel.
Should I be able to turn the tires left and right from the wheel easily? Every now and then I hear a whine from the pump which I never had before, but 99% of the time it seems fine and is quiet. it just feels like something is over tight but everything should be to spec.
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It's the SIR ASM COIL. I replaced my steering wheel with a custom steering wheel and now this thing keeps the steering wheel stiff because these adapters for the custom steering wheel don't work with airbag equipped vehicles. What I currently did because I no longer need my airbag was I disconnected the airbag wires underneath the dash that clipped on with a yellow clip like most other wires are and then I clipped them where they entered the SIR ASM COIL so it would rotate freely but those plastic stops also gave me trouble so I broke them off and now the steering wheel rotates smoothly as the coil moves with it but I fear that there is something I overlooked with this part and I'm nervous about it. Is there anything else connected to this SIR ASM COIL besides the airbag wires? If so what do I do?
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I have a 2012 Camry LE with about 85K KM and had my alignment done and noticed that my steering feels very stiff. When i turn it left or right I can feel it very stiff. I never thought much about it until I drove my dad's 2014 Camry which has 10K KM on it and the steering is much smoother and feels lighter. We both have the Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires and my tire pressure is around 35 psi or slightly less.
Is it normal for the steering to feel tight? When I drive the car, there is no vibration and is very smooth. I don't feel like it pulls (it never did even without it). Should I take it back to the dealer to have it looked at?
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2008 Prius with 284,000 miles-never had problem. Now, started car, no power steering (red triangle). Ordered new power steering control from ebay, went out of town for 10 days. Return, car is DEAD! Trickle charge via fuse block, get car started finally, still no P/S, but it shows charge then shuts engine off. Start and it does same thing.
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I have a 2002 Camry LE V6 with 200K on it and have noticed that the steering feels very stiff while driving and turning. I have checked the fluid, air pressure on tires and that is fine.
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She called me to inform me that ABS and ESC lights came on and the steering was very loose. I told her to shut off the car and restart to see if it made a difference. She did and now the EPS light has come on along with the other two and she said the steering has now become stiff (power steering it seems). I will be hooking up my OBDII to see if I find any fault codes?
No buttons were pressed by the way. Everything has been working fine for the last 6 months. Only had to bring it in for an unrelated issue recently.
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When I make right turns. Its as if the power steering does not work. It is not constant, no issues making left turns, and seems to happen more often in cold weather. About 5 years ago i had a recall to replace the steering column and thought that may have been the issue but took my car in for the recall, they replaced the steering column and still have the same issue.
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Recently had 2012 ES350 aligned at about 14,000 miles. Drives fairly straight at lower speeds on most roads, but on interstate has sharp left pull in left lane at around 65 mph and above. I am aware of road crown, but, in contrast to left lane pull, car has virtually no pull either way in right lane and tends to drive straight; steering at least seems to be stiffer than when I bought it and much stiffer than it seems an ES350 ought to be.
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2K 1.8T Golf. Lowered on Koni struts and neuspeed street (red) springs last year. Rear axel bushing done soon after. Replaced front and rear strut mounts and bearings at the time of struts and springs. Rack died on me in the fall so I had it replaced along with newer control arms and upgraded bushings. Aligned right after the rack was installed and ran like an arrow until last weekend. Now it pull to right, more as I speed up. I also noticed that when I turn left, the steering is much stiffer then steering left (full turns and mild turns).
PS fluid is still full. My ball joints are about 3 years old so I'm leaning towards that direction. Especially after this past winter and the never ending pot holes in Detroit. The shop used moogs and were regularly greased as they had zerk fittings. I think I hear some clunking upfront but I'm unclear as my old GHL Muffler weld finally gave out and is having by a hockey lace and it is rattling every time I accelerate or hit a bump. I'm going to jack it up this weekend to do some exhaust work so I'll give it a good once over and shake down what I can.
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My car has occasionally been exhibiting some stiffness when turning left, a harder turn and when going more slowly (like parking). It feels like a loss of power steering. There's no squeal and the fluid is full, although I don't know the last time it was changed. So far it hasn't happened when turning right.
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Driving home early from work today, moments after leaving the parking lot the VSC warning light illuminated. Followed by ABS and Power steering lights a few seconds later.
Car drove normally. Systems seemed healthy.
I quickly pulled over, took this picture, and then power cycled the car. The warning lights turned [off] and stayed off for remainder of drive home (~30 min).
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If this has been posted before feel free to remove. I searched everywhere and didn't see exactly what I experienced with our Prius when the 12v battery was in it's final stages of death so I wanted to share.
Below issues all occurred within a one week time period 3-7-16 to 3-14-16. 2005 Prius with 145k miles, replaced traction battery on 7-30-15 / 127k miles.
First occurrence - happened a few seconds after starting and driving the vehicle. The ABS light came on and the power steering faded out and then came back, just briefly, and the car did not die. Turned the car off and back on again and all was well.
I performed the 12v battery test by entering maintenance mode. (hold the display button and turn the lights on/off three times, vehicle signal check, battery check) the battery was reading 11.9volts with the car off, I drove the car and it was charging at around 14.7volts and then was reading 12.2 with the car off after driving it. Which at the time seemed a little weak but nothing that was a red flag. I've read that you're supposed to replace the 12 volt battery every 4 years but I swear the one I removed looked stock.
Second time - again happened just a few seconds after starting the car and driving. ABS light came on, red triangle of death light, brake light, power steering was gone, and the power steering light came on, the car did not die. Restart fixed the issues again.
Third time - Happened about 30 minutes in to the trip while the wife was driving on the interstate around 75mph, wipers were on due to rain but visibly lost power, radio came on and off, all the lights on the dash (warning lights included) flickered on and off, power steering was gone, car died completely and would not restart. Tow driver had to boost the battery long enough to put the car in neutral so we could load it on to the tow truck. When we got the car home the battery was completely dead again.
I ordered an Optima Battery 8171-767 (DS46B24R) YellowTop Prius Battery from Amazon which appears to be a direct replacement, and simple to install. I drove the car for a few miles, returned to the house, performed battery test again via maintenance mode and the battery was charging at 14.0 and reading 12.5 when off. I can't be certain but I think the battery check feature may be displaying false information if the battery has dead cells and the car is trying to charge the battery? I took the old battery to Advanced Auto Parts and had them run a diagnostic check and the tester stated that the battery had dead cells and needed to be replaced. I gave them the old battery even though I didn't buy the new one from them and got a 10.00 store credit, unexpected and nice.
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I have a 2007 GS 350 AWD and when I got into the car yesterday the car wouldn't start. It won't even turn on to turn on the radio or roll down windows. The steering wheel and brakes are stiff and the last message I saw was S/T Lock on the dash. I thought it was the battery since sometimes when leaving the lights on auto mode they don't turn off which I thought killed the battery. I bought a brand new battery after trying to recharge the "dead" one and even with the new battery nothing happens. Just now after hitting the unlock button a bunch of times I tried starting it and the ignition button turned green a load up screen came up but still wouldn't start. Now it's back to doing nothing with the steering wheel and brakes stiff with no green ignition light.
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