MaximaN00b

noticed tonight that power steering fluid is pouring out.. its cooking up, turns brown? and smells bad like its burning up.
its been noisy for awhile..

i cant find my FSM, anyone care to share the diagrams for the power steering assembly. Or familiar with this issue... not sure if its just leeking out of one of the hoses, or if the whole, seems like its "cooking" means something more major.

thanks

oh btw, 170,000 miles now and owned it over 3 years still runs good considering. lol

coolsun

iTrader: (10)

its should be red Automatic Trans Fluid. If its pouring out first thing is to check the upper hose. Then move on by removing the wheel and splash guard and looking at potential leaks.

MaximaN00b

its brown/black.. never knew it was recomended to use automatic tras fluid?
since awhile back hearing my power steering now and then ive just bought "power steering fluid"
maybe ive worn out the hoses with improper fluids.

biggz2332

iTrader: (5)

I'm sorry for invading you thread, but I also have a PS problem(hard steering) but mines doesn't leak it just makes a lil noise sometimes, I'm starting to think it's the belt, but there's really no diagostic for a pump if it doesn't leak. IDK where to turn.


Back to you maximanoob- I don't think there's really any "diagrams" in which diagrams usually refer to electrical components. Burning smell most likely comes from fluid not being in there, and yea ATF is used for the power steering, using wrong fluid can damage seals. Start inspecting for obvious leaks.

augnon

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/1994/

MaximaN00b

ty sir, found mine though, as on one of my external hard drives, if i was as good with a car as i was with a computer, my maxima would be running like it had 10k miles lol.. ive done a head gasket before, yet ive never touched any part of power steering.

found the drawing i wanted, think its in the st section, just doesnt seem like a leak to me, and the pump is about $200 to replace.

still no one ever had this before? the fluid smells "burnt" and is turning dark brown black. im thinking it cant be leaking, gotta be the pump. But is there anyway that the pump goes defective and starts pumping the fluid out? hell, maybe its the pump thats leaking, but whys it turning black.

augnon

I have the same problem, wheel not really hard to turn just not good as it should be also the fluid is black and smell bad, I live in mass near the cambridge area, maybe it is the weather.

coolsun

iTrader: (10)

Okay if it smell burnt maybe you should replace the fluid first. Its only about $6 for the cheapo gallon at walmart and you dont even need the whole bottle. When taking out the old fluid you should see if there are any metal flakes in the fluid. Mines had a ton of metal flakes in mines, and it was making this metal on metal grinding sound non stop. If you see alot of it them might as well replace it. Advanceautoparts.com have it for $130 with core charge and a life time warrenty, might wanna check that out and they have a coupon code right now with free shipping

MaximaN00b

it's definitely not the weather.

its bone dry, leaking from somewhere, and the powersteering lines are all over the place lol, its definitely leaking around the vicinity of the pump itself.

my cars jacked up in the garage and im borrowing my gf's car for the time being, but shes pressing me to get my car fixed quick. lol.. and im not looking forward to it, cause ive never done power steering.
is there any write up's on org/online?

i thought i could get to it by taking the tire off, but it looks like more of a pain in the *** than i thought.

MaximaN00b

ok, correct me if im wrong, the power steering pump is right behind that pulley?
its leaking all right there, by the bearing. it seems..

so question is how do i get that pulley off without beating the hell out of it? since, the bolt that holds it on will just turn with the pulley.. was thinking about a screwdriver lol

MaximaN00b

ok, so thats the FSM b/p of the pump..

the red arrows, are what so far i think i have to remove to get the pump out.
help?
this sucks. LOL

MaximaN00b

finally got the new part $98 at advanced auto, reman obviously, hopefully with better internal parts than OEM.. but i doubt it for 98 bucks

surprised i got no help with removing this..

well, if anyone needs to know how to remove and reinstall, i will tell you now, wasnt very hard, i saw some old threads with ppl whining about power steering pumps..

im leaving out obvious stuff, like.. jack it up, support it.. lol

undo the 14mm nut on the tensioner, then you can release tension by the 12mm nut at the bottom of the tensioner..
id say just lower it enough to get the belt pulled off, though i took the whole tensioner off.

now theres a 19mm nut that holds the pulley on (you wont need a special tool to pull the pulley off)
but you will need to wedge something (i used a socket handle, use something dull, not blunt like a screwdriver) to prevent the pulley from turning so you can loosen the 19mm nut..now remove the pulley.

now, theres 2 12mm nuts on the side at the suction pipe (look at the drawing above)
remove those, push it out of your way.

now theres the "joint" with a "connector bolt" which attatchs to the pump, its a big bolt, not sure the size, bigger than 19mm.. i had to use an adjustable, and its TIGHT..
get that off.

now theres 3 14mm bolts facing the front, remove those.
then theres 1 12mm bolt in the back, remove that

and it should be free to come out, may be alittle wedged in tight, just work it back and forth, it will come out. there coule be a possible 2nd 12mm bolt in the back though, so feel around, i only had 1, though looking at the back of the pump, theres 2 threaded places, so.. but i only had 1 back there, and i did pull out a geniune nissan pump.

now do it in reverse to put it back in. lol

not a very good write up, but hey i couldnt find anything better than that and that alone would have helped me.

though, coffee would have helped me best cause i was mainly suffering from being lazy.
it only took me 2 hours total.

MaximaN00b

also be sure to replace BOTH copper looking maybe brass washers that are on the connector bolt at the joint, one top, one bottom, obviously when you install the new one those fresh ones you just put will smush up and seal

and theres a rubber O ring at the suction pipe, replace that.