Procrastination Is From The Devil: Power Steering

[drz]

My car has been making weird noises for about two months now when I turn the steering wheel. The noises kept getting worse and wors -- at a pace, however, that was hardly noticeable. I knew I had to check my power steering, but I figured it could wait. In the middle of all that, I took the car in for a checkup; they informed me that I need to replce the power steering hoses. I figured I would wait to pay rent/tuition before I spent the money and time.
Today after work I decide to at least buy come ATF to top off my power steering reservoir -- you know, to buy myself some time. I went and got it, but came straight home and watche dthe Bulls beat the Cavs.
I started thinking about how bad being low on fuid could be for my power steering. Enouugh heat is generated in the system to cause cavitation -- boiling pockets of fluid that are almost as bad (if not worse than) as air bubbles. So I got off the couch and went to the gas station (so I was under a roof while doing this) to top off the fluid. To my surprise, the reservoir was almost empty! There wasn't even a mark on the dipstick
I filled up and within a minute the noises were gone -- gosh I can be an idiot sometimes.
Now I have to make sure I don't put off changing my belts, the power steering hoses, windshield wiper blades, pads and rotors, and the shift knob bushings. Maybe I should stop putting off homework as well :P

[Furious]

i know you were trying to conserve money by paying in priority, but just goes to show how important regular maintainance is. this could have saved you a good pocket full of money down the road.

[4evrwyntr]

Yes. Be glad you didn't skimp on a radiator leak.

[drz]

Yep. I am still trying to get caught up with everything the previous owner did not take care of.

[jshearer]

Originally posted by drz328i@Apr 1 2005, 10:07 AM
Yep. I am still trying to get caught up with everything the previous owner did not take care of.

[snapback]322855[/snapback]

That is exactly what I have been doing, with a little bit of buying stuff for me too in between. I topped mine off, it was about 3/4 full maybe only 1/2, but after I topped it off it is fine. I am going to keep checking it every 2 weeks or so for a month or two then get the money to replace the hoses. Does anyone know how hard this is to do yourself? Mechanic wants $317 to do it.

[drz]

As far as I understand, the job is not bad at all. You will, however, need to get underneath the car to gain access to the hoses. I would not spend $317 on it.

[93 325i]

I hear the hoses are a PITA to get to.. BMW charged me $500 for that job.. I smoked crack that day so I was in an altered state of mind when I agreed to let them do it. Never again tho. 2 days later I got my bentley manual. But in comparison to what I paid $317 seems fair

[jshearer]

Originally posted by 93 325i@Apr 1 2005, 12:34 PM
I hear the hoses are a PITA to get to.. BMW charged me $500 for that job.. I smoked crack that day so I was in an altered state of mind when I agreed to let them do it. Never again tho. 2 days later I got my bentley manual. But in comparison to what I paid $317 seems fair

[snapback]322996[/snapback]

Yeah the $317 is to replace all the hoses and bleed lines and such. It is from my BMW specialist mechanic. He is actually across the highway from the BMW dealership and right behind the Mercedes/Land Rover/Porsche dealer. They charge less and do a great job(even wash your car and such, not needed but nice none the less). I will probably get it done rather than having to mess with it. I shy away from anything involving fluids and the possibility of them leaking all over me and my garage.

[Silverstreak]

Bleeding the power steering pump is nothing more than filling the resevoir up and turning the wheel a few times back and forth to get all the air out.