I bought a 1997 Saturn SL2 and it's very hard to streer. Are these cars made this way or do I have a problem that needs to be fixed? I know some cars don't have power steering, but this cars steering is harder to steer than others I have drove without power steering. Are these cars just real hard to steer or should I check it out some way? If so what should I do?
View 3 RepliesTwo weeks ago I noticed it was hard to steer my truck left or right. There are no codes and the power steering fluid is at the proper level. I called a ford dealership giving them the codes for the truck seeing there were recalls for power steering problems with Fords but was told my 08 Ford Taurus X was not covered. The other problem I have is I can't find any manuals for this truck.
View 2 Replies'01 A6 with 95k....I have noticed intermittent hard turning to the right at low speeds.. Only to the right though, turning left is fine. It feels like there is no power steering, then all the sudden it will start working. It does NOT seem to be temperature related. Usually it clears up after a few minutes of driving, but it has gotten worse. Does this mean the whole rack needs to be replaced? Would flushing the fluid support at all?
View 9 RepliesMy 2009 CTS Caddy with a 3.6L, 156,612K miles, AWD has been steering hard for a few weeks. Its very difficult to to steer at low speeds, like parking. At highway speeds its ok. Its not making any noise and the fluid level is where it should be. It is hard to steer at low speeds if the cars is hot and when its cold after just starting car. My question is, how to I determine if its the pump or rack or something connected with the speed sensative steering without going to the dealer.
I was at the dealer for routine maintenance Friday and he didn't have time to look at it but said a rack and a pump, he didn't even mention if there could be something wrong with the speed sensitive doohickey. Which leads to my second question, can my normal mechanic, who I believe to be quite capable, be trusted to replace the pump or rack or is this a job that the dealer would be more suited doing. If can bring it to my mechanic I can always buy the parts myself and he can install it. Thats why I would like to figure out exactly which part is bad before I go to him.
My 2009, 6 cylinder, 3.6, AWD Caddy CTS with 175K miles as started to have steering problems. No squealing or funny noises, just very hard to steer, at low speeds and high speeds. Ocassionally it is fine but most of the time very hard, esspecially at low speeds, trying to park and things like that. My question is : how can I tell if its the power steering pump or the steering rack or maybe, and hopefully just a relay or fuse before I bring it to get repaired. If I know its the pump I can just get a peplacement from rock auto and bring it to my local mechanic and save a ton of money. If its the rack I'm stuck taking it to the dealer and losing my house to pay for it.
View 2 RepliesRebuilt the front end last year on this truck. I now own it. Front end is really tight, not as in hard to steer. It doesn't straighten up when you go around a corner completely. Going straight it drifts, 0 slack in the steering wheel. Constantly correcting it. Now my 95, I can turn it slightly going down the highway and it will turn back straight.
View 11 RepliesI own a 2011 f-250 superduty, and have been having a problem with the steering, it goes from normal to lost of assist. Real hard to steer and dangerous. Then it will go away for a month, then start again. Some one on this site told me to flush the system which I did and it was fine for a month. A friend at a local ford dealer told me they had contamination in the system and I had to replace pump, reservoir, and flush system again....
View 10 RepliesI'm looking to sell my dad's '97 Buick Century Limited, but it has a problem with the steering. The short of the problem is that when you step on the gas the car steers to the left but only when you get on it. The more you get on it the more it goes left.So a little more detail here. So if the steering wheel is aligned correctly, it sits at 9 and 3 o'clock, but it isn't, it sits at 8 and 2. It goes pretty much straight at that position; it would take a couple blocks at least to go from the left side of a lane to the right. It doesn't pull hard or anything, you can easily steer it with one finger.
So the problem comes when you get on the gas, either stopped to cross a road or going 55 to pass on a highway. When you get on it the car starts to vere off to the left if you don't let the steering wheel automatically correct itself back to a 9 and 3 position. So it still goes straight unless you don't let the wheel move. The more you get on it, the more the steering wheel goes back to 9 and 3 position. So if you don't floor it, it won't go all the way back to 9 and 3. As soon as you take your foot off the gas it will automatically correct itself back to the 8 and 2 position. However when you are just cruising the wheel is at 8 and 2, doesn't matter if your going 15, 30, 50 or 75 mph.
I've got an E99 powerstroke. Recently it's been getting hard to steer, if not impossible. When I'm parked i can't turn the wheel and it gets better if i Rev the engine up, driving is usually ok and going around corners. It's just low speed, low rpm that it won't.
Also every once in a while when braking it feels like i lose all power brakes. The pedal goes to the floor and the brakes let go, then i can feel the pedal pump back up and i get a good feeling brake pedal again that actually stops well. All this happens within about a seconds time. But the steering is by far the worst.
I just did the power steering flush with atf and it didn't work. I'm thinking i need a new power steering pump, but want to ask here first to make sure. The truck has 290,000 on it, and it never has been replaced to my knowledge. I bought the truck with 147,000 however so it may have been done before that.
is it the clutch or the shifter or something else? I did have to replace the 2 shifter cables about 18 months ago as they broke, but lately, it is having a very hard time going into gear, especially 1st gear when stopped. It's so bad my wife won't drive it any more. We love our 35mpg Saturn and want to keep it running well.
View 7 RepliesWe are having issues shifting the car it is hard to shift into gears. I have replaced the transmission and the clutch, trans mount is still good all mounts for that matter are still in great condition its getting tiring to have to slam the car into gear all the time.
View 1 Repliesi have a 2001 saturn l200 2.2 about 160000 miles..sometimes when i drive the car it shifts hard and sometimes it shifts smoothly..i did have new transmission fluid and new filter put in..i did have transmission scan for codes and there was no codes..i do have a engine code came up it was Crankshaft Position Sensor..cud a Crankshaft Position Sensor cause a car to shifts hard sometimes...
View 4 RepliesSons saturn will not go into gear after a hard braking action. The shifter will move, the car just acts like it is in nuetral, engine revs with gas, no movement in any gear or reverse. After waiting for a few minutes he can put it in gear and go as if nothing happened. I have checked the fluid, its nice pink and clear and full. He says it has happened 3 times in the past week, has driven it for over a year with no major problems. He is 17, but seems decent with a manual.
I have tried to replicate but can not the car drive good, no shifting problems on normal driving and no check engine lights.
I have a 2003 Saturn Ion-3 that I bought a few months ago. It has 157,000 mile and runs great when it will start. Here is the issue: after the car has sat for several hours it seems to flood and starts hard. I end up putting the accelerator to the floor and this seems to work. I have to crank the engine repeatedly and when it catches I hold it to the floor until the engine clears (lots of chugging and white/blue smoke until it clears) and then runs just fine. If the car sits for a short period, it starts ok. The longer it sits, the harder it is to start (i.e overnight or a whole shift at work).
If the car sits for several days it starts just fine. It acts as if it floods while it sits so I changed the Coolant Temp Sensor, still acted up. I then checked the fuel pressure at the schrader valve (55 psi) and noticed that it lost pressure as it sat. I assumed that the injectors were leaking and had them rebuilt (by Mr Injector). The flow bench results did not show and leaking. I reinstalled them along with new spark plugs and the car started up immediately and ran/drove great. This morning was the first morning of sitting all night and it would not start again. It tries to fire but will not catch. I tired to have the CEL code read at autozone but they told me my lighter wasn't working and the couldn't do it (although it runs my GPS just fine).
My mom has a 2002 Saturn l300 v6. She's never had any problems with it except having to get a new computer about a year ago. About 3 weeks ago she got rear ended and ever since then it has had trouble starting. The few times it did start, it wouldn't idle and died. She replaced the fuel injector, but it kept doing it.
It's been at the mechanics ever since then, and everything I've looked up says it might be the fuel pump itself, but that raises the question of wouldn't our mechanic have found it by now? I've been told that it's either wiring or the pump, but when I bring it up I'm shouted down because nobody thinks that it could be those things.
Lately my Ion has become increasingly harder to start, especially in the cold. I have found that if I depress the gas pedal all the way to the floor when I turn the key it starts easily but rumbles and smokes a little when it starts. If I do not press all the way down it won't start right away but will take 5 or 6 tries or not start at all. Otherwise the car runs fine once its started.
View 7 RepliesMy 95 Saturn SL1 has been a real trooper these years. This is the first hvac problem I've had.A couple weeks ago it felt like the ac was starting to go, and by last week it had gone. I figured it probably had a slow leak and just needed a recharge. So I bought a kit from the auto parts shop - for $30, it was worth a try!The pressure in the system reads full - even a tad high, without putting any gas in!I double checked everything. Compressor clutch engaged, and the gauge was attached properly.
Inside, I can hear the familiar 'foop' when I switch from "hot" to "cold," which I'm guessing is the air blend door, and the air is noticeably hotter on "hot" mode - so I assume the blend motor is ok. What might be going on here, or where a well-aimed kick might have an effect?
I have a 2001 saturn l200 about aweek ago i hard clicking sound coming from my motor. So I change the oil and I put it r and back it up some and then I put in it in d then I lost all power and how it wont start. Someone told me its the timing then I take a look at the chain wen you try to start it the chain jumps up and done.
View 2 RepliesMy 1997 SL is not starting. This is not all the time, just when i need it the most, or when i've stopped for gas at midnight on the interstate 200 miles from home. Turn the key nothing happens. Have headlights, interior ,radio. tried jumping it, no luck. The first time it did it we had stopped for gas, pump was out so started it moved to other side turned it off then it wouldn't start. tried jumping it two times,no luck, turned key on at least 50 times...no luck, then the third guy who stopped to tried tightening the ground, tried it again it started. Started a dozen or so times over the next couple of days and it did it again.
Tried turning the negative terminal tighter again, tried it, it started so it must be the ground right? Well replaced the ground battery cable, tried it several times while it sat there started fine. Moved it 50 feet or so,tried it again wouldn't start. Kicked it...so much for the ground wire theory. Got up the next morning went out..it started. Drove it to advanced and had them hook it up to check battery/alternator/charging. Machine says everything is fine. Decided to give it another chance next morning, started, drove about 1/2 mile, forgot cell phone,ran back, turned it off ,ran back out, won't start.
Now ready to use it for target practice. Still keep thinking its something to do with the battery wires because every time it has started back up,with the exception of letting it sit overnight, i had just messed with the wires. Also am wondering if its a coincidence that all three times it's pulled this it had been started, ran for a short distance, and turned off. Also noticed that although i have interior ,radio etc, when it won't start the radio light does dim somewhat but I don't know if it does that all the time. I am laid off so a trip to the saturn garage is looking really expensive but i don't know what else to do.
My 1997 Saturn SL2 has run so great until now. It has 150,500 miles on it. I drove home Tuesday, parked. Wednesday morning, it would not start. Would not turn over, or make any sound at all. We have determined it is not the battery or alternator, so we thought it was the starter. I got a starter and we installed it yesterday. Turned the key and still absolutely nothing. (same as before.) We've looked at all the fuses and they all look fine, but we switched some around of the same type and still no difference. The headlights, interior lights, radio, and everything work when I turn the key, just no crank. What else could it be? I'm so broke I can't tow it to a car parts place to have a diagnostic hooked up.
View 14 Replies97 Saturn SL with a 5 speed manual transmission only has 1st and reverse. Can usually not even put the clutch in and it runs in 1st gear without stalling like a 1 gear automatic transmission. Weird
The Shifter moves normally but there is no 2 thru 5. Can put it in reverse. Drove it 3 miles to my home.
Anyway this is clutch related or some relatively cheap adjustment? The car is not worth the price of a new Xmission. Other alternative like replacing with an automatic xmission?