The power steering pump has a solenoid with a connector going to it, check to make sure that is plugged in. You have to get under the car to access the area.

 

If the power steering system, rather than water, is turning the rad fan, I might mention that the power steering is VERY stiff.

I haven't looked at the solenoid connector yet. Is that for the pump? Disconnect would make steering stiff...

 

The cooling fan is part of the power steering system, if your steering is stiff then the pump is not working correctly, which will directly affect the fan. Disconnecting the wire on the PS pump will not affect the steering, the solenoid receives a signal from the PS controller under the dash which varies the pressure via the solenoid depending on engine temperature.

To clarify, the power steering pump on your car is really two pumps in one unit. One for the steering rack, one for the cooling fan, but they get fluid from the same reservoir.

 

The connection for the progressive power steering is on top of the steering rack by the transmission. Start there. And the steering isn't that bad. I disconnected the pps for a few minutes awhile back and drove and had a lot more control on my car. But my fan was going haywire so I put it back.


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We could disconnect pps and install an electric fan.

I think pss and pps connectors are ok. Should there be a "Fan No. 1" relay for that pps and radiator fan connector?




...also seems to be missing 3 fuses and a Fuel Pump relay.

 

I started a separate thread to ask how this car even runs with no Engine Main relay or Fuel Pump relay or Fan No. 1 relay, and how about no fuses for Radio and Fog.

 

No engine main relay. Now that really sounds like a lobotomy. if I was rewiring a car to that extent, I would buy the whole wiring harness from a junkyard. In high school I rewired two cars after fires caused by melting wires by short circuits, and I used one roll of wire. Bad idea, use the whole harness, not expensive now with internet.

 

PPS connector seems ok.

Engine main relay socket has 12v supply, nothing on relay control contacts.

Fan No. 1 relay socket has no voltage on either pair of contacts.

I am going to try flushing the power steering fluid

the power steering fluid, also this vid

(change fluid without Transtune) but I have four tubes on my reservoir and he only has two.

 

My reservoir has four tubes, two large and two small. In the video link above, his two small tubes face toward the engine, but mine face toward the front of the car. I used the small tube on the right, of the pair facing toward the front of the car. The reason I chose the small tube on the right is that I traced that tube to the pump, while the one on the left seems to go to the fan by a long route through a cooling loop.

Radiator fan now turns normal fast.

Power steering is still stiff when car is stationary, or moving slowly.

 

Steering got stiffer because I cleaned ps and put in proper Dexron III atf. Fluid had been thick, either because of being dirty, or somebody put in thick stuff like Lucas kludge, so thinner clean and correct fluid causes stiff steering and fails safety inspection.

Correct, clean, thinner fluid does make the radiator fan move, and move well. One small step for mankind.

Steering is great on country roads, but stiff when standing still and parking.

 

Here's diagram showing how the system is designed. As 71Corolla said, there are two pumps in one, pancaked together that pull fluid out of the same reservoir. You might not have gotten all the old fluid flushed out. I'd say try flushing some more. If that doesn't fix the stiff steering, maybe the pump is bad?

 

Makes sense. If the fan is spinning slow and his steering is still hard, some internal seal in the pump is probably leaking and causing this pump to loose pressure. This Pump requires alot of pressure to drive. Alot more then your Ordinary PS pump. i think theres a couple hundred psi on the fan side alone IIRC.

 

Of the four hoses on the reservoir, I am guessing that the smaller two are return hoses? I only pulled fluid through one of those but I pulled a gallon through while turning the wheel side to side. One side to side movement takes one reservoir full of fluid.

 

A gallon? I've never been able to fit that much in the steering system. A quart- 2 quarts max for a drain and fill. Get a new pump.


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I pulled a gallon through, reservoir by reservoir full, each reservoir load emptying by turn wheel left then right.

So as the reservoir drained once per right then left turning of the steering wheel, each reservoir full came out and drained into a jar.

The jar holds two quarts. I drained two quarts of dirty, two quarts of mixed new and old fluid, leaving around two quarts of hopefully new fluid in the system. The problem is that I was only draining from one of the two return hoses the whole time.

 

I pulled a gallon through, reservoir by reservoir full, each reservoir load emptying by turn wheel left then right.

You did this with the engine off, right? The old fluid trapped in the fan side of the system didn't get flushed. There's not a good way to do it either. So if the old fluid was REALLY foul, you might try flushing again, now that it's all mixed together.