I have a 2ooo Cadillac Deville with the Northstar V8 that was my Mother-in-Laws daily driver with only 56’000 miles on it and my wife drives it every day now. We drove it this morning and all was fine but when I went to drive it this evening the car will not turn left without severe difficulty. It turns fine to the right and when the car straightens from a right turn it’s good, but when you turn left it’s very stiff. If you sit still (as in park or just with the brake on) it will turn right easily but left is worse than a manual steering car. The fluid is full and there is no noise from the pump at idle. There is a slight hissing sound inside the car when you try to turn left, very faint. Turning to the right makes no noise that I can detect.
What do you guys think coluld be the problem with the car?
Thanks for your info!
Sorry, should have said POWER STEERING in the header!
If it turns easily in one direction, it means the power steering pump is working. If doesn’t turn easily in the other direction, it means the rack & pinion assembly isn’t working.
Tester
Tester,
Is there some sort of external valve assembly on the rack that could be the cause or dose the whole rack need replacing. Also, is it common for a rack to fail with 56’000 miles on it?
No. There’s a spool valve inside the rack assembly that directs the hydraulic pressure from the power steering pump to the appropriate piston to provide steering assist. It sounds like the spool valve has failed where it’s not directing the hydraulic pressure to the piston for a left hand turn.
Tester
Tester,
Thanks for the info. I was thinking the same thing that it probably was the rack I just wanted to be sure there wasn’t something else that it could be such as a computer controlled solenoid or something like that.