My poor poor Camry is on its way out. - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

sk8ersublime · 07-17-2007, 07:54 PM

So there I was today, driving to the Auto Parts store to get the CEL checked on my car so I could find out about the O2 sensor that some of you should know about. As im driving i feel my steering wheel shake really bad while i was at a red light, and over my music i heard a really loud screeching noise, which i thought was coming from a piece of shit next to me. Well...was i wrong.....

and what i said to myself was "FUCK...there goes my Power Steering again...."

I drove a little further down the road and stop at another red light, i look to the right and I see smoke pouring out from hood right at the windshield....the lady next to me let me pass, i passed some ppl, while struggling to turn my car, i finally get to a parking lot where i pop the hood, get out of the car, to find.....

my car pissing power steering fluid everywhere and smoke pouring out from the engine where it leaked all over.

i was about 10 miles from my house, i ended up going to 7-11 and pouring water in the general area trying to clean the crap off the engine so it wouldnt smoke as bad...i finally got home and now i dont know what the hell im gonna do...i had so much planned.

So long story short...i might be getting a new car.

The thing that really pisses me off, is that in January I got my Power Steering pump replaced...it died the next day, and the guy replaced it with another one....and now this...im just so fucking pissed.

xet · 07-17-2007, 07:59 PM

damn sorry to here that, mine has a little leak that has been a pita for the past year or so and that along with other things might end up with me dropping the camry as well

sk8ersublime · 07-17-2007, 08:07 PM

it started with a leak, then i got a new pump, then that pump failed the next day, i had the new pump for 6 months....

Venom_5 · 07-17-2007, 08:14 PM

if you part out, i call some cheap parts!

and dont be discouraged - go look at my Valve Cover videos ... i bet i rivaled your smoke when i spilled 2 of the 4 qts of oil onto my engine and tranny ...

im sure theres a simple solution!

sk8ersublime · 07-17-2007, 08:21 PM

yea im sure its just something with the power steering, either a hose or the pump...but its just so aggravating...when i would rev when i was driving it home, it sounded very bad...didnt sound like and clean when i accelerated. But im assuming thats just because the pump was making that horrible sound....i just hope its the pump and nothing more.

CrawlingEye · 07-17-2007, 08:33 PM

I'd guess from the sounds of things it's likely a hose that went bad.
Where-ever you take your car, if the pump did die as a result of the failed hose, make sure you have all hoses checked and replaced with it.

It's definitely your call if you'd like to sell a car or get it fixed, but I wouldn't feel a power steering issue to be worth selling the car over.

It kind of reminds me of when I had the head gasket done on my Camry and then 2 days after I got it back, an old coolant hose sprung a leak. I ended up keeping the car parked at a gas station near me and had my brother pickup my tools and a new hose. I ended up replacing the hose in the parking lot. It was pretty irritating that after having the head gasket redone, they didn't catch an old corroded hose, but it happens.

So long as nothing significant went wrong, you should be ok. Replacing a power steering pump isn't a very difficult task, you can do it from under the car pretty quickly by just unbolting it and slipping the accessory belt off. I'm not sure if it's the same for a 1MZ-FE, but that's the process for a 5S-FE.

nodrogkam · 07-17-2007, 08:42 PM

did you get oem parts buddy?
u need to get oem parts.
if its aftermarket and not high performance its almost always bull.

sk8ersublime · 07-17-2007, 08:52 PM

the dude at the shop put in one, and it died...then put in a NAPA one...i dont know if thats much better...but thats what i had in it...my grandpa fixes my car when it dies...so its really not my call...but now he is really pissed about this...he is calling the place tomorrow, then they have to tow the thing from my house, which is like 1hr from the place...or im gonna take it across the street to the Toyota Dealership and get raped in the wallet. Its up to him, so i guess ill find out in the morning...

nodrogkam · 07-17-2007, 08:53 PM

OEM parts FTW...just not OEM labor. haha
good luck buddy.

maybe there is a fluid incompatabity? How does ur fluid look?

sk8ersublime · 07-17-2007, 09:09 PM

my fluid looks like its on the ground....lol...it looked like power steering fluid....idk

nodrogkam · 07-17-2007, 09:27 PM

does the gen 3 use ps fluid or atf fluid?

Venom_5 · 07-17-2007, 09:28 PM

ATF... always

oh, and get some OEM parts from the Toyota Parts section of the stealership, but have someone else do the labor!

nodrogkam · 07-17-2007, 09:30 PM

U mean to say ATF always in gen 3?

95WhiteCamry · 07-17-2007, 09:37 PM

wait.... what? my mechanic put power steering fluid in the power steering reservoir when they changed my rack and pump (

)

where are you getting info on putting atf fluid in the power steering reservoir?

Venom_5 · 07-17-2007, 09:54 PM

oh boy, now look what you done did - you done made me bust out my camera

it says right there on the cap to use Dexron type ATF