'97 lost power steering

[mogul]

'97 CE, 254k miles.

i have known the rack was going bad for a while. was told a couple years ago that it was leaking and would eventually fail. fluid always seemed fine, so i've been driving it all along. there were knocks on turns, but i figured i'd just wait until the rack went and replace everything if it made sense at the time.

so recently i lost all power steering. the fluid level is fine. i am super low on cash right now and not ready to let this car go. i'm wondering what my best approach might be. is it OK to drive w/o power steering for a while? yes, it's hard to turn, but i can handle that. might this just be a pump and not the rack? what should i expect to pay for a new rack, if that is the problem? i've been quoted anywhere from $400 to $800. i've done quite a bit of minor repairs on this over the years, but i think the rack is beyond my ability. it probably needs a new belt too. also, the motor mounts have been bad for years, but the vibration never really bothered me so i am assuming that is not necessary, especially at the $600 quote i got.

any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Piloter]

Wasn't power steering an option on this generation? I've heard of people doing the swap to a manual rack and cross-connecting the pump hoses to bypass it entirely. Our cars are light enough that it shouldn't be too problematic to run without.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,7388 has prices for entire new rack assemblies. Labor, of course, is another beast entirely...still, you'll save on the parts. Motor mounts CAN be done easily yourself except for the rear one. They're pretty cheap to get your hands on.

If the belt is turning and you've got no power assist, there's something wrong with the pump. There'd have to be. Assuming the fluid doesn't look like melted chocolate...a new pump or a rebuild also isn't too bad.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,7380