Power steering.

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] wrote:
>My 1978 Dodge van has power steering.Last week, coming back home from
>the food store store, suddenly, I had to really strong arm muscle the
>steering wheel.I sort of know how power steering works.Engine pulley
>belt drive to the power steering pump and flexible hoses to the steering
>gear box.
>
>When the power steering belt broke, in hindsight now, I should have
>drove on to an auto parts store and bought a new belt.I didn't want to
>drive my van without the power steering working.This morning my sister
>took to me to an O'Reilly's auto parts store so I could buy a new power
>steering belt.(Gates belt, about $14.00 including state sales tax.The
>store had another belt for about $4.00 with a one year guarantee, I
>bought the Gates belt) Could it have resulted in any damage to the power
>steering unit/parts in my van if I continued to drive long enough
>without a power steering belt?

no damage will occur to the system because of a broken belt. It's the
same as turning the steering wheel with the engine off as far as the
power steering system is concerned.

Maybe tomorrow, I might think about rolling around under there and think
about putting that belt on there.I need to change out the oil (Valvoline
Oil) and oil filter and lube all those alemites (I am not goin y'alls
zerks route) under there too.
cuhulin

<[email protected]> wrote:

> My 1978 Dodge van has power steering.Last week, coming back home
> from the food store store, suddenly, I had to really strong arm muscle the
> steering wheel.

> Could it have resulted in any damage to the power steering unit/parts in
> my van if I continued to drive long enough without a power steering belt?

Depending on how strong you are, and how hard you heave on the wheel,
you can put undue stress on any u-joints or "rag joints" in the column, since
the system is designed to "take over" with only a couple of pounds pressure.

That is what I have always thought too, MasterBlaster.Fix that power
steering as soon as possible.That is why I got my sister to take me over
to the auto parts store (in her Honda SUV) so I could buy a new power
steering belt.
cuhulin

[email protected] wrote:
> Could it have resulted in any damage to the power
> steering unit/parts in my van if I continued to drive long enough
> without a power steering belt?
> cuhulin
>


I started to fire off an "absolutely not," but the better answer is
"almost certainly not."

Dodge vans of that vintage used a GM Saginaw steering box, not the
Chrysler-built box that was used in passenger cars so I'm not really
familiar with the details of it. But in general, there are reaction
springs that compress slightly as you turn the wheel in order to
activate the valves that direct fluid to assist you in steering the car.
Driving for a REAL long time without power assist could conceivably
pound the reaction springs out of spec since they don't normally get
100% compressed, but DO get compressed to the stops when you steer
without assist.

Also, there are usually flexible couplers ("rag joints") or other joints
in the steering column that normally only see a light steering force,
which see a very large force when you have to steer without power
assist. Those could conceivably break or wear out faster.

But in general- nah, no problem.