OK, here’s what happened. I live by the beach in S. Florida, and my car was exposed during Hurricane Wilma. A lot of sand was blown up off the beach during the storm (about 1/2" on the road), and immediately after the storm passed, my car had trouble starting up and, once it started, I had to use a decent amount of force to turn the steering wheel. Once I started driving around, the steering returned to normal. After the first time, I didn’t have any more trouble starting up the car.
Over the next few weeks, almost every time I started up the car after it had been parked for a few hours or overnight, I had the same problem with the steering, though it would clear up as soon as I started driving. My first thought was that sand had gotten into the power steering fluid or clogged some filters.
Anyway, I brought the car to the garage, and I was told that I would need a rack and pinion job, as the only way sand could get into the power steering fluid would be if the seals were shot. As a rack and pinion job was $700, I opted to flush the power steering fluid to see if that helped instead.
It did, for a time, but the problem came back. It started to be a bit worse, in fact, and so just before Christmas I resigned myself to paying some serious bucks to solve the problem.
But before I did anything, I went on a week-long vacation over Christmas. I’ve been back four days now, and the problem has completely disappeared.
Have magic gnomes fixed my steering, or is the problem still there, lurking and ready to strike at the worst possible moment?
I am NOT a Mechanic… However, I too live at the beach and have expierienced issues with my vehicles after heavy rains and flooding. Off the Cuff, I would say something got Wet and has sense dried out. With That being said, I would get a second opinion regarding the problem. Rack & Pinion along with Struts are $$$$ makers. The Neoprene Boots that protect your stirring components often Rot & break-off leaving the components exposed to the road elements. Chances are the problem will return after the next big rain.
You don’t say what kind or year your car is, but it’s possible the sand eroded the power steering drive belt. It’s also possible, on the other hand, that your rack and pinion were shot before the storm. If your kind of car often blows out steering parts at about that mileage, the storm may have had nothing to do with it.
Water contamination seems a more likely explanation than sand contamination, both for the starting problem and the steering problem. Was there water involved (e.g. wind-blown rain)?
This: …I would need a rack and pinion job, as the only way sand could get into the power steering fluid would be if the seals were shot. implies that there was sand in the power steering fluid, but doesn’t say so outright. Was there sand in the power steering fluid? If so, I would expect the pump and the rack to have suffered. But I also would expect it would only get worse, and not “heal itself,” even if only temporarily. It seems very unlikely to me that sand would get into the fluid, as the only possible entry points are at the rack ends, which would only be exposed if their rubber dust boots were torn open (and then the sand would have to be driven past the end seals), and the filler cap, which is mounted fairly high up and would require some interesting air currents to breach its very small venting area.
The symptom described for the steering is most typically caused by internal seal wear in the rack. When cold, the seals are stiff and don’t work, but once they warm up a bit they’re okay. If the weather is warmer now than it was previously, that could be why the symptom has gone away. If this is indeed the cause, it will get progressively worse, and unfortunately the only cure is rack replacement.
I’d open the hood and get someone to start the car cold and turn the steering wheel. You’ll be able to see if the belt is slipping. If so, change the belt. Should be under $10 at Auto Zone and if you’re competant at removal and assembly should take about 15 minutes or less. On a FWD car, it’s usually a matter of loosening an idler pulley and pulling the belt off.
If the belt still slips…the pulley on the pump stops or slows down when someone turns the wheel, then your pump is probably bad. Change the pump…that could be a little more expensive on an Infiniti, but there’s probably nothing wrong with the rack and pinion.