07 Corolla S heavy steering

[xiaoyue1990]

Hello everyone,

My 07 corolla has a heavy steering problem. The car doesn't pull, doesn't squeak when turn but simply feels heavy, especially when it's cold.

The steering fluid looks fine( enough fluid, still red-ish). I've changed the serpentine belt (feels slightly better). The car has been aligned about a year ago. I've brought it to a local mechanic and they couldn't find the problem, so it makes me wondering, does S trim tend to have heavier steering? Or there is something wrong?

Thanks! Any suggestion is appreciated!

 

[derren99]

Under normal operating conditions the steering is not heavy from my experience with a 2007 S model (90,000 miles). Could be your power steering pump, steering rack, tie rod ends? I would try a couple of things: 1) put the car in neutral with the e-brake on, turn off the engine, rotate the steering wheel (un-assisted by power steering pump) and do you hear or feel anything unusual? 2) put the car on in park/neutral leave the engine on, rotate the steering wheel parked in place, do you hear or feel anything unusual? Do the RPMs just a little as the power steering pump operates?

 

[xiaoyue1990]

Under normal operating conditions the steering is not heavy from my experience with a 2007 S model (90,000 miles). Could be your power steering pump, steering rack, tie rod ends? I would try a couple of things: 1) put the car in neutral with the e-brake on, turn off the engine, rotate the steering wheel (un-assisted by power steering pump) and do you hear or feel anything unusual? 2) put the car on in park/neutral leave the engine on, rotate the steering wheel parked in place, do you hear or feel anything unusual? Do the RPMs just a little as the power steering pump operates?

Hello Derren99,

Thanks for the reply! I think everything is working - 1) When the steering is unassisted: Of course it'll be hard to turn, but no weird sound. 2) When the engine is on - RPMs go up when turn, no unusual noise either, just heavy steering (of course lighter than when the engine is off). Actually that's what bothers me because normally you can hear some noise if the steering pump is failing.

Do you think maybe a alignment would fix it? I had one about 2yrs (<10k miles) ago.

Thanks again!

 

[derren99]

Hello Derren99,

Thanks for the reply! I think everything is working - 1) When the steering is unassisted: Of course it'll be hard to turn, but no weird sound. 2) When the engine is on - RPMs go up when turn, no unusual noise either, just heavy steering (of course lighter than when the engine is off). Actually that's what bothers me because normally you can hear some noise if the steering pump is failing.

Do you think maybe a alignment would fix it? I had one about 2yrs (<10k miles) ago.

Thanks again!

You're welcome! I was trying to see if you could differentiate between the pump and the rack and/or another suspension component. Unfortunately I wasn't any help, keep us posted though. Best of luck!

One more thing, it may be worth swapping out the fluid (I'm assuming it's ATF based on the color) even though you said the color is fine. It doesn't take too long if you have a helper turning the wheel for you if you pull the hose off the reservoir. Switch to a synthetic ATF in case your issue has to do with viscosity of the fluid. You mentioning heavier steering when cold makes me think of the viscosity varying significantly over the temperature range.

 

[FinalGear]

Worst case is that your steering rack needs to be replace.

 

[xiaoyue1990]

You're welcome! I was trying to see if you could differentiate between the pump and the rack and/or another suspension component. Unfortunately I wasn't any help, keep us posted though. Best of luck!

One more thing, it may be worth swapping out the fluid (I'm assuming it's ATF based on the color) even though you said the color is fine. It doesn't take too long if you have a helper turning the wheel for you if you pull the hose off the reservoir. Switch to a synthetic ATF in case your issue has to do with viscosity of the fluid. You mentioning heavier steering when cold makes me think of the viscosity varying significantly over the temperature range.

Yes, thanks! I'll try that first.

 

[xiaoyue1990]

You're welcome! I was trying to see if you could differentiate between the pump and the rack and/or another suspension component. Unfortunately I wasn't any help, keep us posted though. Best of luck!

One more thing, it may be worth swapping out the fluid (I'm assuming it's ATF based on the color) even though you said the color is fine. It doesn't take too long if you have a helper turning the wheel for you if you pull the hose off the reservoir. Switch to a synthetic ATF in case your issue has to do with viscosity of the fluid. You mentioning heavier steering when cold makes me think of the viscosity varying significantly over the temperature range.

Hey derren99,

I did a simple flush with a turkey baster today and it turns out that the fluid is actually dark brown. Instead of the flush, I only replaced what's in the reservoir - and I can feel the difference already. So, thanks! Also, another thing that I noticed is that in the inner wall of my fluid reservoir, there's a layer of black residual, or deposition, stick to the wall. I can scrap it off with my turkey baster. What is that? I'm afraid that I'd have to take off the reservoir and clean it.

 

[derren99]

Hey derren99,

I did a simple flush with a turkey baster today and it turns out that the fluid is actually dark brown. Instead of the flush, I only replaced what's in the reservoir - and I can feel the difference already. So, thanks! Also, another thing that I noticed is that in the inner wall of my fluid reservoir, there's a layer of black residual, or deposition, stick to the wall. I can scrap it off with my turkey baster. What is that? I'm afraid that I'd have to take off the reservoir and clean it.

I'm glad to hear it has improved already! Thanks for updating. I'm not sure about the black residue, maybe the cap wasn't tight and some particulates from the air accumulated over time?