[acitydweller]

the steering has become very numb while turning 15 degrees in either direction...

The steering almost feels like that of an american car ....

There used to be more steering feel. It is a 13 year old car.
Is there something i need to worry about?

 

[chronoti]

dirty/old fluid? when fluid gets old they lose their compressibility. only thing i can think of.

 

[nodrogkam]

how often should the fluid be changed?

 

[Doug S]

Worn tierod ends or the inner rod, maybe the rack itself is worn. But, I had the same thing on a 94 and it turned out the the mounts for the rack were loose, one had fallen out. Replaced the stud, tightened eveything and got an alignment and it works great.

Doug

 

[chronoti]

fluid replacement has been something that has question man kind since the invention of power steering. 13 years is a good guess. that and remember power steering fluid is red or clear if you bought that kind. also is sposta be the thickness of atf (because it is!) if it's way too off from that you should replace it. in the general section of the forum in the faq sticky there is a how too in replaceing the fluid.

 

[nodrogkam]

thanks. i was cruising through online toyota repair dates as well as my haynes manual and it just keeps saying check the fluid and add if low. never mentioning a fluid flush/or change.
i just found that pretty darn wierd.

 

[DFBonnett]

the steering has become very numb while turning 15 degrees in either direction...

The steering almost feels like that of an american car ....

There used to be more steering feel. It is a 13 year old car.
Is there something i need to worry about?

At the end of the day, and unless you have serviced the car yourself since new, you don't know what some momo may have added to the reservoir at some point in the past. In your place, I'd get 2 quarts of new fluid (Dexron III?) and a turkey baster, then use the baster to remove as much fluid as possible and replace with new. I'd do this every day for a week and see if it helps. If it does, I'd keep doing it until I was satisfied with the steering.
FWIW
YMMV

 

[Toysrme]

Split vacuum line to the power steering valve.
Change the fluid too tho.

 

[Digger1]

how often should the fluid be changed?

I pull all the fluid out of the reservior and fill with fresh fluid every 30K miles.

 

[nodrogkam]

hmm, well i dont know if my fluid has ever been changed, but i pumped about 1/4 of a L of fluid out today, and it doesnt look dirty to me. sure its not cherry red like fresh fluid but its just red. and well im guessing if it has never been changed in the past 8-9 years or 90K, i guess the fluid is supposed to last the life of the vehicle. At any rate i think im just going to pump out about 1/4 L of fluid at every oil change for a while. Eventually the system will be filled with fresher fluid.

i checked my 01 corolla and the fluid is clear. i wonder if its just clear ATF or its PS fluid.
I didnt do anything to that car after i saw it was clear.