Power steering gone when turning left

Tiny
JSHURYAN
  • MEMBER
  • 2000 CHRYSLER CONCORDE
  • 2.7L
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 64,000 MILES
My steering wheel was loose. Clunking from hood area when taking off from a stop. Power steering gone when turning left.

I took my car into the shop and replaced my steering rack. It turned fine at first, thought the problem was fixed. I parked it for a few hours and when I went to drive again, the clunk was back and the power steering is gone when turning left again. The car now pulls to the right. Any ideas?
Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 AT 4:31 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Hi JShuryan,

Sounds like you have a pump issue for the low or no assist while turning left. This is assuming the rack they installed is a good part. However, it is very unlikely that you would get another that does the same as your old one. With that assumption being made, the rack could be failing but we need to find out what is causing it to fail. The pump would be the next likely cause. They need to check the operation of the pump including pressure output when turning left. If the pump is putting out proper pressure then something inside the rack is not allowing pressure to that side of the rack. I attached a couple documents about your specific vehicle that will help explain this.

Either way, if this was a reputable shop, they should inspect this and find out what happened. Technically, this is called a "comeback" which means they made a repair, it did not fix it, so the vehicle comes back.

The fact that this was gone and came back shows they at least fix the source of the issue but they missed the root cause of what was causing the rack to do this.
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Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 AT 8:16 PM
Tiny
JSHURYAN
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Thanks for replying. I'm taking my car back this morning. A power steering pump issue makes total sense. I'm starting to think the clunk might be unrelated to this? Either way I will post an update when this is figured out. Thanks again.
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Thursday, April 25th, 2019 AT 2:56 AM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Sorry. I just read my reply and I didn't mention the clunk when I meant to. I agree that I think this is unrelated to the power steering. Usually clunking on take off is more of a drive-line issue. Especially if you are not turning. If you have the steering wheel straight then the rack and pump are not really doing anything. Plus a clunk is normally caused by a loose component. Possibly a suspension component or as I mention a drive-line (transmission, drive axle, drive shaft) issue. Please let us know what they find so it can be documented for others with similar issues. Also, if you have questions about what they are recommending, feel free to let us know. Thanks
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Thursday, April 25th, 2019 AT 8:30 AM

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