Power Steering Pump Motors

In the humble opinion of this writer there are two key components of your vehicle that are most important when it comes to your safety: the brakes and the steering. If either of those fail while you are driving you are literally in a world of hurt.

Cars today have power steering, a hydraulic system that allows you the driver to easily steer your vehicle. The power steering components are: steering gear, rotary valve, power steering pump motor and the pulley. So how does it all work?

Hydraulic power is provided by the rotary-vane pump motor which is driven by the car’s engine using a belt and pulley system. This is very similar to the old watermills in that inside the steering unit are vanes that spin, forcing hydraulic fluid through the system. A rotary valve senses when a turn is being made and activates the system; when there is no turn the valve senses that also and nothing happens within the system. What is amazing to this writer is how simple a mechanism it is and how very similar it is to those mechanisms that we used two hundred years ago to run textile machines. We really haven’t come that far in many facets of technology!

So there you have it, the how’s involved with the power steering pump motor and system. Suffice it to say that if this system is not working properly you will suddenly feel like you are driving a 1940 Chevy and it will take both hands to turn the wheel. Like we said, the steering and braking systems are crucial when we are considering the safety of the driver and passengers in a motor vehicle.

The individual components of a power steering system are not as expensive as say a fuel pump or a manual transmission. They are not as hard to replace as the suspension system or timing chains. How often do they wear out? That’s a hard question to answer but we can tell you that it usually does not happen suddenly. The individual components can and will wear down with time and the power steering pump motor is like any other motor in that moving parts wear down. If you notice that your steering is sluggish or harder to turn then you need to consider buying replacement parts for this unit. Pick up your tools, take apart the steering column, pull the steering motor and head on down to your local self serve salvage yard. The used car parts are much less expensive and come with a warranty. In a world of uncertainty that’s about all you can ask for!