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Would No power steering fluid cause the alternator wheel to snap off!?


white12
12-22-2004, 02:30 PM
Would No power steering fluid cause the alternator wheel to snap off!?

the rounded mechanism that makes the wheel spin was easily pulled out of the lower part of the power steering box is this supposed to happen?

What do i need to fix the problem, there was also smoke coming out of the power steering box when lid was opened?(not alot of smoke)

91 chevy corsica 5 speed 3.1 lt

sierrap615
12-23-2004, 12:18 AM
sounds like a lot more happened then a short story could tell. the first question in my mind was how long was the power steering without fluid? had it been low for a long time or was this a sudden leak? when did this happen?(IE-moving, stopped, turning, high speed, low speed?) how old was the fluid? does the pulley still turn by hand? can you go into more detail about the alternator pulley? by "power steering box" do you mean the power steering pump(driven by the drive belt) or the steering gear box(attached to the wheels and steering column)? was the smoke possibly just steam?

white12
12-24-2004, 06:52 PM
Would No power steering fluid cause the alternator wheel to snap off!?

the rounded mechanism that makes the wheel spin was easily pulled out of the lower part of the power steering box is this supposed to happen?

What do i need to fix the problem, there was also smoke coming out of the power steering box when lid was opened?(not alot of smoke)

91 chevy corsica 5 speed 3.1 lt


The power steering was without fluid for several weeks..i was driving it back and fourth to school....the reason for this is because there was a leak and i didnt bother fixing it b/c i was simply too busy...I was driving it at high speeds some times and aswell low speeds...i dont know exactly what the pulley is...i just no that the wheel closest to where u put the power steering in burnt off in the center b/c the wheel was plastic and the tension must have caused it too grind the center of tyhe wheel which was where the smoke was coming from....when the wheel fell off i could pull the piece it was attatced too from under the power steering fluid box....which spun the wheel...was this suppose to be that easy to take out?...and what do u think the problem is? and what parts do u think i should get besides a new wheel ?

Kooterskkar
12-24-2004, 11:08 PM
Wow dude I dont see how you put up with that noise for so long. Even a slow leak will start making hella noise when it gets low on fluid. Btw a quart of PS fluid is only like 2 bucks.
Now cuz of that you will have to replace the entire pump. Basically what happened was you ground the bearings out of it and it ate through the shaft that holds the pulley on.
Now you will also need to flush out the steering rack to get an bits of metal out of there or else they will make hell on the seals in that too.
If it was one of the hoses that blew up, those take all of an hour to replace. If it was a slow leak, all you would have had to do was check it whenever you got gas, and top it off if it needed it. Its not THAT hard to do. They even have PS stop leak that you could have put in there. Now you will have to spend hours replacing the pump, you will need to buy a NEW pulley, and you may even have steering rack problems allready which wont show up until you put new fluid in it. If thats gone to hell, youll have to spend even more time and money replacing that.
Basically, you just screwed yourself.

sierrap615
12-25-2004, 02:35 AM
the problem was running with no fluid burned out the pump. the pulley is the wheel driven by the belt. right now you are looking at a new pulley, pump, whatever the leak was, and hope the rest of the system is undamaged. thats about all i can say without seeing the car for my self.

beuthling
01-07-2005, 05:40 PM
dido - car needs it's fluid
-at the right levels
-cleaned at the right intervals
no if's &'s but's
love your car it will love you-- ( does not include ford, chysler) those cars love your wallet.

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