I'mabout to call AAA and i already called my friend who gave me a sugestion what it could be.

I was driving home just now and out of nowhere i hear this grinding sort of noise and notice it is very hard to turn. I drive more then stop because it is gettin worse. I checked my power steering fluid and it seems to be fine. I drive a little more and now when i turn the wheel even a little bit i hear a loud grinding noise and it is veryyy hard to even make a wide turn. Even when i turn the car off and then back on i can hear the same kind of grinding like noise lighly. Any ideas? I just had my 105k tuneup with timing belt etc 2 weeks ago. Shit.

Thanks

 

Is the grinding noise coming from the engine or when the car is rolling? If it happens only when the car is moving I would get a tow truck regardless of what we might think it is. If it's from the engine bay, pull the plastic cover off so you can see the power steering pump while it's running and see if you can visually see the belt slipping on the pulley. Turn the AC on and see if it gets worse.

Do you have any tools with you?

 

Now that that's out of the way (in case you're still waiting), if the timing belt was just done, there are so many things it could be. One of the tensioners/idlers, crankshaft pulley bolt backed out/key sheared (if it uses a key), etc.

 

Sounds like Power steering pump or steering rack is bad...

 

I found out what it is thanks to a friend. The power steering pulley nut/bolt is NOT THERE. i will upload a picture asap. First, does anyone know what size nut goes on there? I might be able to get a tenporary nut from a hardware store before i take it back o the shop that did my service

 

P/N is 90305-PAA-A01, lemme see what I can find...

 

M12 Hex Flare nut.

 

whoa. Did the shop forget to put it back on after the recent service?

 

Is it a press fit/tapered or key? There's a good chance it's a reverse thread nut assuming the PS spins clockwise.

The bad thing is that grinding you heard was the PS pump shaft on the pulley. Either the pulley or shaft, or both are worn. I would pay lots of attention as you put it back together that everything goes together well and that the pulley runs true.

Sorry I forgot to send this a long time ago. Just got back on the computer and saw it sitting here not sent.

 

^ What do you mean press fit or key?

We know it is a 14mm. We couldn't find that size nut in 3 different auto parts stores but we did find a 14mm lug so we attempted to use that just so I could drive back 3 miles home but it didn't really work so I had to leave my car in a business parking lot overnight.

I will get it towed first thing in the morning back to the shop to have them fix it because it obviously is their fault. That should not come off, especially 10 days after service! The pain in the ass is I spent 4 hours of my time tonight trying to fix it just to get it home and will have to take at least half a day but probably a full day off work tomorrow and use my vacation time. All because this shop didn't make sure the nut was on properly.

 

This is interesting. An M14 would require a 22mm socket...did it not properly engage the threads? I'm just curious because this defies all standard metric convention and would mean Acura is running one hella proprietary nut. :gotme:

 

The pulley either slips onto the shaft with a press fit (many times tapered), with a key, or it's splined. All are a way for the pulley to drive the shaft without slipping.

If it's splined, it's pretty likely you will need a new pump or pulley or both as the splines will be destroyed from the silppage (the grinding you heard).

If it has a key, that simple, replace the key.

If it's a press fit, the shaft may have worn smaller and/or the pulley wore larger and they may no longer fit to one another. It would be the same thing as a splined shaft, the pump and/or pulley will have to be replaced.

I just looked at a picture and it looks like the TL's is splined. You should probably inspect the pulley and pump shaft for damage to the splines yourself before the shop sees it. You don't want them to tighten the crap out of the nut to where it will hold for a while and then begin slipping again. If there's damage, take a picture of it. There almost has to be damage to the splines.

Also keep in mind if you continue to look for a nut that will work, chance are it's reverse thread.

 

I smell a refund or some money back, if so!!

 

i dont think it's the shop..no where in the manual does it even call for touching the power steering pump, let alone the pulley on the pump.

unless it was some small time shop that just eyeballed parts that needed to be taken off.

 

Well The service was done about 12 days ago and it just happened yesterday. So I'm guessing the nut was put back on but not securely and then fell off. If it wasn't put back on in the first place then I'm sure I would have had this problem right after I got the car back.

We went to Home Depot and Autozone and O'Reillys and they only had 10mm, 12mm, and 16mm nuts. Nobody had a 14mm; it really must be one hell of a proprietary nut lol. The 12mm was too small so we knew it had to be 14mm. We did come up with an idea of using either a 14mm lug and even saw a spark plug piece that was 14mm; each had a different thread. The lug thread didn't fit but the spark plug did; however the pully was still just way too loose so we didn't drive it and I left it in the parking lot.

Yea definitely has to be splined.

Also, when I got the timing belt/water pump changed etc, they fixed a leak on the power steering pump. Either way, when they put the stuff back together they messed something up.

I dropped the car off with the tow truck right as they opened and now went to get breakfast so I'm about to check back and see the progress. I hope they are working their ass off right now.

 

I never had a problem for 105k miles and a week and half after I take it to this shop to get a major service done it just HAPPENS to fall off? I just can't believe that.

Plus I did mention they did another service of sealing a little leak in the power steering pump with they did the 105k service. It

 

So did you look at the splines before sending it to the shop?

 

No I forgot to check.

But the shop admitted fault and fixed it with new parts (power steering pump and shaft etc) and new power steering fluid and for my trouble they are doing a transmission drain and fill free of charge. And of course I am paying nothing.

They were sorry it happened and lived up to their reputation of great customer service.

 

Glad to hear they admitted to it and took care of you.

 

Good to hear, Ian.

Texans> Cowgirls.

 

West Central Houston High School > Houston Astros

 

Glad to hear your situation worked out for you and the dealer confessed. Oddly enough, my PS nut backed itself off one day (unprovoked). It had never been apart and just loosened itself. Even more odd, I found the nut under the power steering tank and was able to put the factory nut back on. There was no damage and didn't cost me a dime. I did use blue locktite on the threads when I put it back together and marked the shaft/pulley alignment so I will know through visual inspection if the nut is backing out. I now inspect this nut regularly to be sure it is not moving.