I learned the hard and expensive way that if you’re going to replace a power steering component you will be better served to replace everything. As parts wear they send tiny plastic and metal particles through the system, leading to a never ending goose egg hunt. Best of luck!
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Originally Posted by dogbone
We've continued working on the power steering issues. On March 28th, I went out to the track with brand new power steering lines and hoses. Did two laps, had steering problems and left the track within an hour of arrival. On the bright side, the limp mode from the brake vacuum pump appears to be fixed now.
At the end of that very short track day, the power steering was permanently screwed. Previously, the loss of power steering would only appear when the car was hot. But after those two laps, the power steering was gone----unless----you revved the heck out of the engine and the steering loosened up.
We decided we needed a new power steering pump. So, I got a remanufactured pump. It was installed this week.
A couple things give me hope. One of the things that's been confounding everyone is that there has been no visible flow of power steering fluid in the reservoir. Either the fluid has been static in the reservoir, or it's been a gloppy movement in the reservoir----like a lava lamp. But now, with the new pump, we were looking at the fluid movement yesterday and it was flowing smoothly like a river in the reservoir---nice constant flow.
Also, at the last minute yesterday, we decided to ditch the Bimmerworld power steering reservoir and get a new stock one. The BW reservoir never solved my fluid spraying problems, so I wasn't in love with it. But it turns out there was something else to consider----the BW reservoir does not have a filter in it while the stock one does. Also, the outlet port is not at the bottom of the BW reservoir while the stock outlet port is at the center bottom, which may have some implications on how debris settles in the reservoir. So the BW reservoir is out and a new stock one is back in. We are exploring the idea of an inline filter that can be replaced because there's a fair amount of shimmering metal in there even after SEVERAL complete fluid flushes to get rid of it. The stock reservoir's filter is not replaceable.....you have to replace the whole unit.
So, I'm signed up to run at HPR tomorrow. I'm hopeful that a new pump will solve the situation. We'll see.
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