My 1995 Toyota Tacoma has 217, 000 miles and was running great. The other day it started to make a whine when making tight turns. I had just climbed a hill and was backing it into a parking spot when the steering became hard to turn and a plume of white smoke began coming out of my exhaust. There was no smoke under the hood. I had it home immediately. Does anyone know what the problem may be? I’m hoping it will not become a new planter box in my back yard.
The “Idle up” air control valve has failed. On the high pressure power steering line at the power steering pump you’ll see a control valve with two vacuum hoses attached, disconnect these vacuum hoses and check for fluid inside. If you find fluid in the vacuum line the control valve has failed.
What Nevada said. Should be a simple fix.
Thanks, I’ll give it a try and let you know how it goes.
THANKS guys!
After riding a questionable scooter all summer, I finally got the guts to work on my truck, before the snow flies. Anyway, One shop told me it was a bad power steering pump and a blown head gasket, cost - $3,500. I found that the valve mentioned above had indeed failed and power steering fluid was being squirted right into the head. Toyota said I could order the part for $180. I found one in a junk yard for $2.99. That and a couple of quarts of power steering flushed through the lines fixed it!
Thanks again!
Thanks for the update, which we seldom get.
And that’s another merit badge for Nevada545.
I just came across this post. I’m having similar issues that the original post had with my 1995 Toyota T100. The problem is, my shop is 55 miles away. Do you think that it would be safe to drive it that far?