P/S randomly cuts out

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Joined
Feb 9, 2019
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Location
Washington State
Like the title says power steering on my Land Cruiser will randomly cut out. This only seems to occur making a sharp turn like into a parking space but not real often. The rest of the time driving around town or on the highway it works just fine.

Reservoir was noted to be low after a big road trip but has since been topped off. No leaking or noise at the pump but driver side boot on the rack does appear to be weeping

Would the power steering cutting out under sharp turns be the pump, the rack or something else?
 
How long does it cut out for? A second, a few seconds, a few minutes?

If it's a second, like loss of hydraulic pressure check your steering rack bushings. My rack would lock up in parking lots, turns out the rack bushings were so shot that the rack was lifting up and the steering joint was getting jammed on the oil filter housing. I swapped the bushings and it's perfect again at 300K
 
How long does it cut out for? A second, a few seconds, a few minutes?

If it's a second, like loss of hydraulic pressure check your steering rack bushings. My rack would lock up in parking lots, turns out the rack bushings were so shot that the rack was lifting up and the steering joint was getting jammed on the oil filter housing. I swapped the bushings and it's perfect again at 300K

Basically you will be turning into a parking spot and when you are halfway in the power steering stops assisting and you cant turn the rest of the way. Usually if you put it in reverse and back up it comes back on line and you can pull in. It doesn't happen all of the time just occasionally.

My wife had it happen to her while making a U turn the other day and is pissed because it didn't come back right away by reversing and had to Austin Powers her way back and forth to get turned around, so it has now become a priority LOL 220K miles on the truck and I believe the original rack, I will check the bushings.
 
Basically you will be turning into a parking spot and when you are halfway in the power steering stops assisting and you cant turn the rest of the way. Usually if you put it in reverse and back up it comes back on line and you can pull in. It doesn't happen all of the time just occasionally.

My wife had it happen to her while making a U turn the other day and is pissed because it didn't come back right away by reversing and had to Austin Powers her way back and forth to get turned around, so it has now become a priority LOL 220K miles on the truck and I believe the original rack, I will check the bushings.

Mine was similar to jamming something in the steering column. Pretty scary. I also lost pressure like you for a second. I did a flush flush and sat in the driveway for 10 minutes cranking the wheel back and forth and then flushed it again. Haven't had any issues in months now.
 
There is a vacuum switch on the back of the power steering pump that boosts the pressure at low rpm. The vacuum line may be broken or disconnected or the switch could be bad.
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Also, you probably should make sure the system is bled, depending on how low the fluid was. You might have air in the system.
 
There is a vacuum switch on the back of the power steering pump that boosts the pressure at low rpm. The vacuum line may be broken or disconnected or the switch could be bad.
View attachment 3475489

Also, you probably should make sure the system is bled, depending on how low the fluid was. You might have air in the system.

I had no clue about the vacuum switch thank you! Im probably going to check the bushings on rack and bleed the system first. The reservoir was below the "low" mark when I noticed it but there was fluid in the reservoir.
 
Mine was similar to jamming something in the steering column. Pretty scary. I also lost pressure like you for a second. I did a flush flush and sat in the driveway for 10 minutes cranking the wheel back and forth and then flushed it again. Haven't had any issues in months now.

Yeah I think flushing/bleeding the system will be my first attempt. Hopefully that will fix it, I really dont want to do a PS pump or rack right now.
 

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