You see I am from Canada eh! Infiniti uses Dex III up in the Great White North. We are all right. Cheers!

 

Thanks for checking the owner's manual. ATF can be used but like I said, I've been told PS fluid is recommended. Glad to know I'm not crazy.

 

Well the fluid flush went well. I puchased a bulb pump and some PS fluid from the auto parts store. I did not feel a big difference in the steering feel. It is still difficult to turn, if not worse. I am thinking it is the pump itself now. I will swap fluids a couple more times, since I have plenty of fluid. If I do not get any improvement I will take her in to Nissan sometime next week. I will update this post with the results.

 

Just another update: I have re-filled by PS fluid 2 full times now. I have enough for one more run. I am going to drive it a couple days and try again this weekend. I am planning on taking my car in to the dealership on Monday of next week if I dont have any improvement. Seems like all the threads on this issue never finished up explaining what went wrong or why, so I plan on giving a final update before Nissan takes any more of my money...

 

looks like you joined the club of threads that never finish explaining what went wrong or why

I'm having steering issues... it's slightly difficult to turn the car out of a straight line for the first 90/-90 degree rotation, and i also have to assist the wheel in returning to center once it hits that 90/-90 degree angle... I've already done a complete PSF flush and used Dexrol III ATF to refill and the line returned clean... no change in performance... the pump appears to be working, though, because it shot fluid into the sky when I had the inlet hose off and turned the car on for a split second... I'm running out of ideas... fellas?

 

Sorry... Forgot to update the members here!! Turns out that it was a steering knuckle. The part itself was bent and did not catch like it was supposed too.. About 100 bucks for the part and 400 for labor! That included yet another PS flush and new Dexrol. Fixed it right away.. no problems since.

 

Thanks for the update! How difficult would you say your steering wheel became? Mine is maybe 20-30% more difficult to turn and it doesn't recenter itself completely anymore... Did yours just start magically one day? And did it get progressively worse or was it always "not as good as it used to be, but not getting worse" ?

 

I'm curious too! I did a full pop the bottom hose flush about a month? Ago and all the sudden two days ago it had the exact same issues as Rad. Doesn't want to turn for about 15* then turns to about half tilt then hard again then turns full tilt. Hard back each time as well. It got worse today and is almost undriveable. I really hope it's not the pump because infiniti told me that 500 right there. If it is anyone know what a rebuild would need?

 

I actually fixed it with a power steering flush. Takes about $25 in supplies, but well worth it. Also, the pump's not that expensive, or that hard to change. Just messy. How many miles on your car?

 

I changed mine at 60k and noticed a huge difference as well! ever since then it has been about few months with no issues!

 

Yeah it's mainly a climate dependant thing. Colder climates require ATF. ATF is more expensive than hydraulic/power steering fluids. It also has better formulated lube/shear/detergent qualities. Overall better fluid than hydraulic/ps fluid is. But it does compress a bit more, and it's more viscous (thinner)

In warm temps I'd put the PS fluid in. In colder areas, ATF.

I didn't realize the age of this thread, but I was going to suggest a mechanical part, or the PS switch/control system. Cars shut off PS at higher speeds to keep steering response/feel consistant and safe. This is why older cars were so 'floaty' at high speeds, because the PS never shut off.

Most newer cars have variable PS. changing incrementally with speed. I admittedly don't knwo a lot about the diagnosis of this system or which setup the G uses, but I'd look at that system after checking all mechanical stuff, fluids, belts, steering components, and the like.

A pump is actually super unllikely to be the cause. PS pumps don't normally fail, it takes a big lack of maintenance or some seriously over strung belts to burn those pumps out.

Just thought I'd post if that helps anyone reading this down the road. I do realize the OP got his issue fixed.

 

I'm around 87 k and did a full from the bottom flush last month. Rand some extra trough just to get all the old stuff out. Then I filled it and ran it lock to lock repeatedly for about 5-10 minutes makin sure all the air bubbles were out. This new feeling happened over the weekend.

 

On the phone sorry for the extra/ missing letters in some words.

 

try driving your car for 10-15 minutes, go home, turn the car off, remove the cap from the PSF reservoir, turn lock-to-lock 20 times, replace the lid and let the car sit for an hour. That's what I did 24-hours after my PSF flush/refill right before my issue finally went away.