Hi all, new member here, I have an 05' G35 auto with 44,000 miles and have recently been having problems with the power steering. Over the past 3 weeks the steering has gotten noticeably harder followed by an annoying rubbing noise which seems to be coming from the interior. Also the steering wheel fails to return after a turn, which is pretty scarey. Yesterday I took it to a so called "reputable" mechanic in the area to diagnose the issue. They told me that the entire rack & pinion and the power steering pump had to be replaced. I have a little auto knowledge and I smelled a scam artist. Quote was $1200 to fix, BS!!
When i picked the car up, the steering was back to normal, perfect actually. Next day I start it up and the problem is back, worse than ever. Now when you steer the car the wheel turn goes from soft to hard, then to soft again so it's like steering in segments.

I read up on this forum about some steering issues similar to mines, some said change the fluid, which i did, and others said it could be a steering angle sensor. The PS fluid is new (Dextron III) and there are no leaks ANYWHERE. No leaks on the PS pump or the rack & pinion, no loss of PS fluid, everything around the engine is bone dry. I'm trying to get to the bottom of this so I don't get screwed by the dealership because i have a feeling they're going to try the same crap and I really don't believe that the rack & pinion is bad. Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Bill

 

uhhh.. how is the tension/condition of the belt?

just a suggestion.. .

 

belt looks fine, minimal wear, no squealing whatsoever. Car is whisper quiet. No check engine light, totally weird.

 

Same problem here! Please help!

 

Are you guys local to me? May I take look?

 

in fla

 

bump

 

Been doing a lot of research on this forum and it seems like many G35 owners are experiencing this problem but yet nobody knows why

 

In for answers. Beginning to see signs of this as well.

 

I changed the PS fluid 4 times with Dextron III and inflated the tires and it helped a little but the steering is still stiffer than it was the day i bought it. Also there is no return delete, which means when make a turn or a U-turn the steering wheel does not return, this is how i know something is wrong.

 

Got the same problem. Never been able to figure it out.

 

sounds like to me your Power Steering may be failing. I just replaced my rack and pinion myself. quote of 1200.00 isnt bad for power steering pump and power steering rack. Power steering rack is not hard just time consuming..took me around 2 hours total to actually remove it and replace with my new one. attached all the lines and make sure the steering was correct and realign the toe as best as I could.

My steering feels very loose...my only other thought is maybe your boots need to be regreased or your seals inside are going bad. I can have my old rack rebuilt and sell it to anyone that would want to replace theres.

 

Update: I changed the power steering fluid about 5 times using the syphon method. It felt the same at first but over a few days the steering got better and better. Now 2 weeks later it feels normal again. Glad i didn't listen to that mechanic or i would've been jipped 1200. Sometimes it's the simplest thing....

 

you might have worked out air bubbles in the system..I didnt do the syphon method at all but my steering feels really loose for some reason...that may be how it should feel or maybe I need to bleed the lines and get all of the air out.

 

Yeah when you refill it- remember you need to leave the cap off and turn the wheel side to side from limit to limit about a half dozen times to prime / bleed the system.