OldBlue Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 Hey there! Complete newbie so please excuse any obvious questions I ask. Just bought an '85 Subaru 2wd GL station wagon. Today on my drive to work, as I was making a U-turn, the power steering (PS) began screaming at me and smoke started to come out from under the hood. I pulled over and parked it and, sure enough, there's a nice puddle of steering fluid under the car. Questions: 1) I'm assuming this is the PS pump although I'll be checking all of the hoses. Any advice on replacing this? How much should one run at the junkyard? 2) What are the odds I've done damage to the PS system and will need to replace more than the pump? 3) Any advice on the install, etc.? I'll be doing it myself. Thanks! Justyn '85 2wd GL Station Wagon - Old Blue "You're my boy, Blue!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 Justyn: Welcome aboard. The power steering pumps on these cars are very easy to service. They are bolted right up top, slightly to the left. About the only reccomendation I would make on removing it is to use a flare wrench to avoid damaging the lines. Also, be aware that it will be messy so have plenty of rags on hand. A used one should run about $20 or so at the junkyard. good luck, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oobnuker Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 This happened to me once and it turned out to be just a loose hose at the pump. The hoses are usually bolted down with little brackets here and there, so they may seem tight but might actually just be resting up against the pump. If it is just the pump and you can live without, these little cars are remarkably easy to manuever without power steering - I ended up just getting shorter belts and disconnecting mine and removing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 I'll second that it is more likely a loose hose than a blown pump. If it is a pump and you can't find one at the JY (should be plenty), send me a PM as I have one or two spares. (Turbo owners seem to have spares of everything... except good heads.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 worst case scenario would be a bad rack and pinion. it will probably be easy to see where the leak occurred, but otherwise, check the hydraulic fittings first, then the pump, then the R/P. that's also in order of ease of replacement If you have to change the rack and pinion it can be done in less than a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBlue Posted September 17, 2004 Author Share Posted September 17, 2004 Thanks, everyone! I appreciate the replies. My biggest concern was the apparent smoke coming from under the hood right after this happened. I'm pretty sure it was just burning some of the power steering fluid that leaked but I want to make sure. Am I to understand that I can drive it without power steering fluid? I don't mind not having power steering but was worried that if I drove it in its current condition it would be bad for something (everything!) I'll check all the hoses and then the pump and let everyone know what I find. Justyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmCeeBee Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 >> Am I to understand that I can drive it without power steering fluid? No, no, no! oobnuker was saying you can drive a sub just fine without a *power steering system*. If you leave the p/s pump hooked up and spinning, it'll probably self destruct after a few miles of pumping air. So the comment was, you can take off the p/s steering pump completely, along with its pulley, too, and use a shorter belt. If you decide to go this way, you should cap off the p/s lines (to keep out contamination and make it possible to rebuild someday). I haven't done this...... just arm-chair designing here. I'm not sure about '85 subs, but the later ones specify ATF in the p/s pump. Check the p/s cap, it'll say what fluid to use. Don't mix p/s fluid with ATF! -- Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbianchi Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 as for running with no p/s fluid in the pump, I've been doing just that for about 30K on an 86sw after a leaking system caused a smokeout everytime I shut it off. You can also just run some hose in a loop from input to output, by passing all the lower lines. Just my 2sents??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealleyboy Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 Blue: I'm sure it's not good for the system, but I've driven cars without the PS functioning. The early 80's GM's came from the factory that way... Since it's on your mind, you may as well go ahaed and fix your problem. It could very well be a leaky hose, or the pump could be out. Either way, it's no big deal. Just fix it. Your Sube will handle much better with PS than without. Your car did not come equipped for manual steering. To bad because this car would have performed just fine w/o power steering. good luck, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBlue Posted September 22, 2004 Author Share Posted September 22, 2004 Thanks, everyone. I was pretty sure running it w/o p/s fluid was bad but an earlier post confused me a bit. I took your advice and inspected the lines and, sure enough, the nut connecting the p/s line to the resevoir was loose so I tightened, refilled, bled the air, and away I went! 15 minute repair (and at work, none the less - I had extra p/s fluid and a crescent wrench handy!) Now on to the engine rev problems. . . (see next post) Thanks! OldBlue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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