Toyota - Camry :: 1999 - Intermittent Power Steering Failure
May 17, 2011
Twice in the past two months, the power steering in my 1999 Toyota Camry has temporarily stopped working. The first time, I was making a turn out of a parking lot, and the wheel froze up (or at least became very difficult to turn). The problem completely disappeared after about 30 seconds. Two months later, the problem happened again while making a turn onto a busy street. This time, it lasted only about 10 seconds before recovering. Both times, the wheel seemed to lock after I had already turned it some amount - i.e., halfway through the turn. And both times, it was raining. I did not hear any unusual noises - e.g., belts slipping.
I have taken the car to two different mechanics (one of them the local Toyota dealer), and neither could find anything wrong with the power steering. From their visual inspection, the power steering fluid looks good, there are no obvious leaks in the system, and the power steering belt looks fine. And they were unable to replicate the problem, since it occurs so infrequently.
The mechanics have said that there are two most likely culprits - a faulty rack and pinion ($1800), or a bad power steering pump ($800). I am hesitant to spend this kind of money without believing that the problem would be fixed, but I'm also very uncomfortable driving the car when the steering could give out at any time.
What the problem might be, or how I should proceed? The car has about 100,000 miles on it and is otherwise in great shape, so I'd like to keep driving it for years to come...
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I just took my 2009 Subaru Forester (80,000 miles) in to a mechanic because it was having an intermittent power steering assist failure during low speed maneuvering (i.e., parking lot). This is always accompanied by a loud rhythmic whining form under the hood (kind of like a whaawhaawhaawhaa). By intermittent, I mean maybe 50% chance of it happening when I am maneuvering in a parking lot. By failure, I mean I can still turn the wheel but it's much harder. The mechanic diagnosed it as the following:
dry rot in drive belts, recommended replacement
leaky rack and pinion, recommended replacement
2 leaky front struts
I checked my power steering fluid before I brought it in and the level/color looks great. The mechanic said in addition to the leak that there's a little bit of a catch in the steering at a certain steering position when going faster, but I haven't noticed it myself. I have trusted this shop in the past and had good experiences, but there has been a lot of turnover lately, so I'm unsure of what to do. I went ahead and had them change the belts, but decided to wait on the rack/struts until I did more research/got a second opinion.
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New ghost in the machine.
Pulled out of the driveway two days ago to go trailer a wrecked car home. Got about half a mile up the road, and my electrical system started flickering. Engine died, dash went nuts, everything is clicking on and off real fast. This went on for a minute or two, then stopped. After a little internal debate, I decided to continue on.
Ran fine for another mile or so. Hitched up the trailer and checked the lights, everything A-OK. Started rolling down the lane and the truck went dark. Engine shut down, no sign of electrical power anywhere. It was as if my batteries had been suddenly abducted by aliens. Truck stayed dark for about 5 - 10 seconds, then like a switch was thrown all the electric came back on. Dropped the trailer and drove back to the house without incident. Not towing a car like this.
Checked the battery connections. Looked really good and tight. Pulled and cleaned them anyways.
Pulled the fuse box out from under the dash and looked for water damage. Absolutely no sign of moisture or corrosion anywhere on the box or anything else under the dash.
Started the truck and turned every electrical item I could think of on. Truck sat and idled for 15 minutes without a hiccup. Voltage at the batteries was normal. I wiggled wires everywhere with no effect.
Decided to quit for the night. Got into the truck to move it to it's parking spot and POOF, all went dark again. Engine died, heater blower, radio, headlights, interior lights, all dark. About 5 seconds later, everything came back online.
No CEL. No other symptoms. She was either running perfectly or had no juice at all.
I drove it last night to the mechanic I use. 7 miles, bumps, potholes, stop and go traffic, no issues.
Just spoke with the mechanic. They can't reproduce the problem. I told him I can't reproduce it on demand either. I asked that they put it up on the rack and check all the ground points.
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As the title says, I have an intermittent issue with the power window in the driver's door. It always works, with the exception of when it gets really damp during the night. In that case when I get in the truck first thing, the window will go down, but not always up the first few tries.
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I posted last week that I was getting an intermittent "Steering Failure - Workshop" message on my '04 V-8 Phaeton. I asked forum members if I was alone and no one responded to the post. Last week I made an appointment with my VW dealer to get the car's steering fault looked at but I wasn't fast enough. The other day the car would not let me start it. The 'steering failure workshop' problem doesn't seem to be a mechanical issue. There are two other '04 Phaeton's at my dealer right now with the same problem. It looks like my car will join the party awaiting new steering control modules. The back-order on the modules appears to be at least another three weeks. Funny, you can get an entire Phaeton steering column in two days. If and when this steering module goes south all kinds of fun interior electrical glitches jump on board. No one ever said owning a Phaeton wouldn't be interesting and yes I still plan on keeping it for a very long time.
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I have a 2009 Camry Hybrid. Both driver side door locks work/fail intermittently. This sometimes does/doesn't happen when i use the inside door panel button, outside door button, outside hand sensor when i grab the door latch, remote control buttons, gear shift . . . etc. I see the driver side locks open/close or not move while I see the passenger side doors lock/unlock correctly.
For some reason, it seems to be a bit better when the weather gets warmer around hear in the northeast. I thought it might have something to do with the integration relay. But I'm not exactly sure where it is. I looked under the dashboard, too many wires!. On the drivers side I have located the fuse box, unplugged most of the wires, plugged them back in and it seemed to work only for a day or two, but the temperature also warmed up on those days.
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My 7.3 power steering is acting up. Feels like I am up against a rock. At slow speeds like parking lot maneuvering I struggle to turn wheel. Then all of a sudden I'll get power steering back and wheel will rapidly turn. Freaky.
Brake pressure is fine. They shutter pretty bad even with the new rotors I just put on but they have good pressure. But the steering is intermittent or no power steer.
I saw online to run engine at 2000 rpm and try steering but no change. Still no power steer. There is fluid in reservoir. There is fluid seeping up steering column from steering box. No clue if this is related or unrelated.
How to troubleshoot further. I hate throwing parts at problems before truly diagnosing. Also have pretty aggressive lurching during turns in four wheel drive. It's present on dirt road but worse on pavement. Don't know if this is related or not.
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I have a 2007 Toyota Camry with electrical problems that started showing up recently. One day the check battery light turned on and about 15 minutes later the AC would lose power intermittently. After parking the vehicle that day I tried to start up and only heard a rapid clicking sound. I exchanged the battery since it was still under warranty and everything seemed to work fine for one whole day. The next day the battery light turned on again, followed by the ABS warning light, and then the airbag warning light. Within about 5 minutes the dashboard back light started flickering and other warning lights started lighting up randomly. Within a minute of that the car shutoff and would not start back up again.
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I have a 2000 Excursion. This weekend, I noticed some intermittent failure of the power steering where it seemed like the pump was not engaging and then would all of the sudden. Deciding to try to head off a failure, I got a reman unit from Oreilly and installed it this morning. It was fine when I tested, had good brakes and went locked to lock quietly without fuss. Let the house and within a mile, I lost steering and brake assist. I stopped and turned around, but what I am noticing is that at idle, I have no power steering, but when the RPM's are up, I do.
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I have Toyota camry 2003 v6 and power steering needs to be flushed. How to flush the power steering.
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I have a 2013 prius v 5. I bought it new from the dealer, and it has now 40,000 miles.
Lately, I've been having intermittent power failure problems.
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What this thing is on the top of my power steering pump? It has 2 vacuum hoses going to it, "is it some sort of booster"? Fluid is leaking from this thing and I don't know if it can be tightened or replaced.
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My 2006 Toyota Camry LE (4cyl) is in the shop today for its 120,000 mile maintenance. The Toyota shop says my power steering rack (or boot?) is leaking, the whole thing needs to be replaced, and this is a $1200 repair. I had an accident in this car on 01/03/13, I was hit on the front passenger side tire, pushing it in and under, along with damage to the front lower corner of the door and the whole fender. I got the car out of the repair shop last week and immediately noticed a lot of banging and bumping that was not there before. I called the repair shop, they said bring it in and they will look at it, I was planning to take it in tomorrow. Meanwhile my car was due for an oil change and the 120,000 mile maintenance, so I dropped it off this morning and you know the rest of the story. I asked Toyota if this could have happened in the accident - they said while it could be that the banging and bumping noises are the boot rattling, it was not likely this would have happened in the accident. What do you think, is it possible or likely the power steering rack could have been torn in the accident or in the ensuing replacement of parts on the undercarriage?
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I had been driving around with gallons of ATF in my trunk for a year until I recently had the power steering pump changed on my 1996 Toyota Camry (which spent many winters sitting outside up in Canada), and now the leak seems worse. I brought it to my mechanic who wants $800 to change a leaky rack & pinion and a hose. But I am but a poor, unfortunate grad student and so I have no more money to put on this old, yet beloved car! So he suggested I put in a combination of ATF and brake fluid, which might slow down the leak. What say you? Will I ruin my newly acquired power steering pump or make matters worse?
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I have a 1999 VW Passat that has a problem with its cruise control that two dealers have not been able to solve. Most of the time I cannot engage the cruise control. Other times it will work properly for 30 minutes. On a rare occasion, it will work properly for several hours. It does not seem to matter what type of road I am driving on. On the rare occasions when it works properly, it does not seem to matter if I stop the care and shut off the engine.
It appears is is there are times when it stops working that stopping the care and shutting off the engine is useful when I begin driving again. However, there is nothing consistent about when it fails, and when it again functions. The dealers have said little more than the cruise control is not working. One dealer installed a new break pedal sensor which did not resolve the problem.
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We have a 2005 Camry XLE, with 102,00 miles on it. It has been very well cared for, and only serviced by our Dealer. We would like to keep the vehicle for another 50,000 miles. We have had an assessment of the vehicle done by the Dealer, because our brakes were very soft.
He found a great deal of air in the lines and flushed them out. He also found:
1.) Leaks in the power steering rack, which he graded as a level 8 severity on a 10 point scale. Repair estimate is $1100 to replace and align.
2.) Both front struts are cracked and graded for severity as an 8 on a scale of 10.
What do you think:
A.) Are these safety issues ?
B.) What are the consequences of delay ?
C.) Are these problems indicative of other likely problems ?
D.) Is it better to have a Dealer perform the repairs ?
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I drive a 2007 toyota camry. This winter the brake light has come on twice - each time after driving for at least 30 minutes on very slushy, cold conditions. The first time, the brakes were still working fine - I pulled into work, topped off the fluid and the light went off. Flash forward two months later. Same conditions, the light came on and as I was looking for parking, the brakes went out. Pedal was soft, emergency lights went on the car said to "CHECK VSC". I pulled into a parking lot and the brakes were once again working, but the lights were still on.
I had the car towed to a Firestone where they were unable to determine a problem. The next day, all the lights were out on the dash. I had the car towed to the Toyota dealership and not only can they not recreate the issue, but when they pull the numbers from the car, there is no indication that anything has ever been wrong with any system in the vehicle. They told me they've called Toyota Tech and there has never been a report of this issue. They want to release the car back to me, but I do not feel safe driving this car.
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2010 FJ Cruiser has an intermittent shimmy that you can feel in the steering wheel at highway speeds. Noticed it not long after new tires. Go around a long curve and it starts, then stays until you go around another curve and then stops. It is as if the wheels have to align a certain way for some harmonic effect. I had the tires rebalanced and rotated. My mechanic said they balanced up very well. Shimmy is better but not gone. Wierdest thing is that when it happens, if I keep my foot on the gas and gently press the brake the shimmy stops and the returns as soon as I let up on the brake. When I asked my mechanic if it could be 2 slightly warped rotors he said the shimmy would be worse braking not better.
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For about 6 months the cruise control on our '09 F-250 has been intermittently failing. One time I'll set it and it will work fine, the next time I try to set it and it fails. No particular rhyme or reason to when it fails to set.
Some of the tests that I did indicated it was the brake light switch on the brake pedal arm. It seemed to work perfectly a few times that I drove it after the installation but now it's back to working when it wants to.
I had a problem with the cruise on our '06 Ranger and it turned out to be the module. It acted a bit the same way in that it would set sometimes, other time not. I don't know if the two systems are similar or not.
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I have read the many blogs..streams..and complaints about the same "power steering" failure I experience every time I drive my junk ION. I have also read there is repair compensation via GM for models less than 10 years old and less than 100,000 miles. My question is, is there any cost relief if it has over 100,000 miles? Mine had close to it when I bought it and it didn't start until after it had gone over 100,000. Between the ignition passlock problem when it's cold and the power steering failure when it's hot... I will NEVER EVER buy anything Saturn or GM again.
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RE: 2007 Volvo XC90 90k miles
Pulled into my driveway last night with the power steering working intermittently for last 5 minute leg of my trip. Woke up this morning with no power steering and sqealing noise coming from engine.
No fluid leak on driveway. Drove to dealer with no power steering. Very hard to turn wheel - even while moving.
Dealer checked and said it was not a fluid issue and that they thought a screw might have fallen out and needed to take apart the rear of the engine (a 5-6 hour job) just to diagnose the problem.
A screw from the steering column in the rear engine?
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