Riu

This problem has occurred 5 times or so. BTW : Car is a 2004 TL

Sometimes after pulling out of my drive way (I have a long drive way that goes into a dead end street) by the time i get close to the end of the street, the steering gets extremely hard. By hard I mean it will turn but I need both hands and substantial force. I stop immediately as i am usually only going about 10 mph. When I begin to role forward or put the car in reverse and move at a slow pace there is a kind of loud squeaking noise.

The first three times this happened, after 10 seconds I turned the car off and then the problem disappeared once I restarted the car.

I brought the car to the dealer because I got a letter in the mail about 2 recalls that had to be fixed. I called the dealer and made a apt for the recalls and told them about the problem at the same time. When I went to pick up the car they told me that the power steering hose recall was the problem and it was actively leaking. So I was happy that they fixed my problem.

A few nights later.... it happened again....

It happened the fourth time in a Movie Theater parking lot. This was the only time this happened away from my house. This time I had just pulled out of my spot and made it to the end of the parking row and it happened. I did not hear the squeak noise but it could be because I had people in the car. After 20 seconds of the car being stationary and turning the wheel a little bit it went away on its own and I drove home problem free.

I called Valley Stream Acura the next day and told them about the issue. I brought the car in the next day for service. The dealer was unable to duplicate the problem after three days and they told me that when it happens more often to bring it back and they have documented the problem.

While the car was there I called the company itself (Acura) to request they provide assistance to the dealer. The company was very helpful and sent help but they were also unsuccessful in replicating the problem. I picked the car up last week and they said that if it happened again I should bring it back.

Yesterday I drove out of my driveway and by the end of the street it happened again. So this time I made sure I did some investigating before I let it go away. This time the sound was loud and the wheel was just as hard to move as usual. But this time I noticed that the red battery symbol on the dash lit up. This time it took 30 seconds for it to go away on its own but once it went away the light on the dash did as well.

I called the dealer today and made a new apt for Friday. After I hung up I called the man I spoke to at Acura. He was very helpful and seems to want to be interested in solving my issue and willing to go the extra mile. I left him a msg and he called me 2 hours later and we talked about what it could be and what could be done about it. He said its good I have an apt Friday and he will call me back tomorrow after he calls some other people at Acura. He was stumped before and the light coming on stumps him even more.

I know of one time this happened and it was dry outside but the four other times it has been wet and raining. At the end of my driveway there is a large puddle that I have to drive through when it rains to get to my house. This last time I was only home for 10 min after driving through it before I went out again and this occurred. I only mention this because I know the water gets into the brakes and under body of the car and its obvious due to the sizzling sound of the water on the hot parts of the car. I dont know if this is relevant but he said he would bring it up to the people he was going to talk to.

I am just curious if anyone has had a similar occurrence or has some ideas that I can bring up to him when I talk to him tomorrow.

Thanks.

Daniel

01tl4tl

sounds like the battery is dieing, and you need to use some liquid latex electrical protection on the contacts and grounds under the car
Stop by any parts store for a free check of battery and charging system- thats why the light comes on- a problem in the system!
Also ask them to check for any codes- zone and kragen do it for free
How is the fluid level on the ps fluid at this time?

csmeance

I would think bad battery and as well a bad power-steering pump

01tl4tl

yea- if you were driving around with fluid squirting out the hose- and didnt know it- thats bad, Low fluid level will kill a pump for sure, but you may not know it for a month or 2

The recall is supposed to catch the hose before it leaks!
Sounds like more warranty work to me

ndabunka

Have them replace the power steering pump and see if it doesn't go away. Since it is a 2004, the battery should also be replaced it it hasn't already been replaced recently. The Battery may be a wear and tear item at your cost. The pump may also come at your cost since you are out of warranty UNLESS you can get Acura to acknowledge that the faulty hose dontributed to the pump failure.

Riu

The battery was replaced once.

The guy on the phone said he has documented it and it will all be fixed no matter when it happens under warranty because the problem has been going on for some time. My warranty has about one month left on it. They said they tested the pump and it was fine.

TLer trash

My first guess would be the belt or belt tension. Beyond that it could be the pump intermittently seizing, but I doubt it.

WSU_Coug

Sounds more like a belt tension thing to me too - the same belt does drive the power steering pump and the alternator correct? If it was slipping it could cause both the battery light (by slipping on alternator) and hard steering by slipping on power steering pump. It makes even more sense when you say it happens more frequently in wet conditions, since that would make the belt more likely to slip if there wasn't enough tension on it.

dan.....k

iTrader: (1)

I had something similar happen. It was my power steering rack. The whole rack had to be replaced. They had already replaced my pump a few months earlier. Thanks to Ed Voyles Acura my rack and pump were 100% good willed. I am s/c and was 5K out of warranty.

csmeance

this sounds more logical.

mmade22

Sounds like one of the technicians from Acura needs to sleep over and drive your car out to work to see the problem happens.....Have the tech take the car home for the weekend and drive it around in the morning to see if he can figure it out. Until they experience it, you will get the runaround.