Driving with no power steering
Discussion
bigandclever said:
Sparkzz said:
It seems my serpentine belt has parted ways with the pulleys. Luckily this happened on my driveway. The belt drives the power steering so I now have a car which when stationary, wll not steer.
It will, you just need to get a bit stronger 
Also as far as I’m aware perfectly legal to drive without the power assistance (COVID regulations notwithstanding). I used to have an MGF and many people used to just pull the fuse on the (terrible) early electrically assisted PAS and drive unassisted.
I once had the power steering pump part ways with its cracked mounting on a Lotus Excel in about 1995. I wanted to get home (Friday afternooon) so the RAC chap agreed to fit me a shorter belt (the aux belt ran the alternator and water pump too unfortunately). Are you sure it only runs the pas pump?
Yes you can drive a PAS car with no belt but you will be manually pushing the fluid around inside the rack. I'd expect it will be very hard. If you decide to do it, be prepared to have to really muscle the steering wheel in bends. Roundabouts be VERY careful at!
Yes you can drive a PAS car with no belt but you will be manually pushing the fluid around inside the rack. I'd expect it will be very hard. If you decide to do it, be prepared to have to really muscle the steering wheel in bends. Roundabouts be VERY careful at!
If it's a hydraulic assisted system it will just be extra heavy to steer .
Some electric assistance systems if they develop faults are very difficult to steer and occasionally dangerous to drive .
As for who controls it on and off recovery trucks or lift ramps , this is a bit of a minefield as to insurance, liability etc etc .
A competent mobile mechanic could do the job at your home .
Some electric assistance systems if they develop faults are very difficult to steer and occasionally dangerous to drive .
As for who controls it on and off recovery trucks or lift ramps , this is a bit of a minefield as to insurance, liability etc etc .
A competent mobile mechanic could do the job at your home .
Steering should be fine, it'll just take more "body English" on the helm.
But...
If the same belt runs the water pump don't even think about driving 10 miles. Many also run the alternator (Volvo D5 engine for example). It wouldn't take long for the battery voltage to drop to the threshold and shut the engine down, depending how many electrical loads are on at the time.
But...
If the same belt runs the water pump don't even think about driving 10 miles. Many also run the alternator (Volvo D5 engine for example). It wouldn't take long for the battery voltage to drop to the threshold and shut the engine down, depending how many electrical loads are on at the time.
If the belt drives the water pump I wouldn't want to try to drive it 10 miles.
Sorry if it's a stupid question, but when you say it has parted company, has the belt broken or has it just come off?
I've only ever done one on my LR Disco, but that wasn't too challenging and only needed a spanner to move the tensioner. It was probably a 5 minute job. Maybe order one online?
If you're not comfortable doing this, I'd get it recovered to the garage.
ETA - what motco (above) said is very important - don't assume your temp gauge will be accurate if the water pump isn't running.
Sorry if it's a stupid question, but when you say it has parted company, has the belt broken or has it just come off?
I've only ever done one on my LR Disco, but that wasn't too challenging and only needed a spanner to move the tensioner. It was probably a 5 minute job. Maybe order one online?
If you're not comfortable doing this, I'd get it recovered to the garage.
ETA - what motco (above) said is very important - don't assume your temp gauge will be accurate if the water pump isn't running.
What sort of car is it?
(So people can determine what else might be compromised, ie. Water pump)
You could always order the correct aux belt online and fit it yourself.. not really that difficult, and you do have the luxury of time. Of course there is likely a reason it broke in the first place To be considered (unless it’s ancient)
(So people can determine what else might be compromised, ie. Water pump)
You could always order the correct aux belt online and fit it yourself.. not really that difficult, and you do have the luxury of time. Of course there is likely a reason it broke in the first place To be considered (unless it’s ancient)
craig_m67 said:
What sort of car is it?
(So people can determine what else might be compromised, ie. Water pump)
You could always order the correct aux belt online and fit it yourself.. not really that difficult, and you do have the luxury of time. Of course there is likely a reason it broke in the first place To be considered (unless it’s ancient)
^^WHS^^ but as a caveat some are utter b(So people can determine what else might be compromised, ie. Water pump)
You could always order the correct aux belt online and fit it yourself.. not really that difficult, and you do have the luxury of time. Of course there is likely a reason it broke in the first place To be considered (unless it’s ancient)
ds. Focus, for example. There's no tensioner, the belt is stretchy and requires a special tool to fit.motco said:
Without the water pump you will find it overheats quickly. But you might not see a high water temperature gauge reading because the sender might not be in an area close to the heat source, and without circulation it'll misread.
From cold you could probably drive five miles. When my E36 overheated (later determined to be the infamous plastic pump impeller broken), I let it cool for a while then drive a few miles. Starting with an already over-heated engine it took me two further stops to go 15 miles. I personally would not attempt it unless absolutely desperate.The Volvo d5 water pump is driven by the cam belt, so no problems with the cooling system. I wouldn’t fancy driving something as large and heavy as an XC 90 without pas though.
Aux belt is an easy enough job on these if you’re resonably competent and have a reasonable socket set. Pas reservoir needs to be unclipped and moved out of the way to allow access. The main thing is backing off the tensioner and pinning it firmly in place, so it doesn’t bite your fingers off!
YouTube Si Rob for a video showing you how to do it.
Aux belt is an easy enough job on these if you’re resonably competent and have a reasonable socket set. Pas reservoir needs to be unclipped and moved out of the way to allow access. The main thing is backing off the tensioner and pinning it firmly in place, so it doesn’t bite your fingers off!
YouTube Si Rob for a video showing you how to do it.
Sparkzz said:
However, the COVID-19 situation means that I am trying to reduce contact with people as much as possible, and I don't really want someone inside my car. My wife is a vulnerable person, so we're being extra careful.
When the car is at the garage, I would load it onto the ramp and the mechanic would be able to conduct the repair in the engine bay without entering the vehicle.
Any ideas?
How are you going to get to the garage? When the car is at the garage, I would load it onto the ramp and the mechanic would be able to conduct the repair in the engine bay without entering the vehicle.
Any ideas?
Edited by Sparkzz on Friday 10th April 13:48
Edited by Sparkzz on Friday 10th April 13:53
Tony1963 said:
Surely you can let them recover the car, fix it, then drop it off on your drive again. Then, leave it for three days so that if there is a viral presence, it’ll die. Then carry out a decontam, just to be doubly sure.
Within a week of them taking the car, you’ll have it back again.
ThisWithin a week of them taking the car, you’ll have it back again.
OP there is no need to be quite so paranoid, although I do understand.
If you are that worried about contamination, then as above, if you don't need to drive it, leave it for a couple of days.
As regards driving, I disagree with anyone saying the car will be ok to drive or legal. driving a car with failed PS is nothing like driving a car originally designed without PS, the rack design and ratio are completely different, plus you are trying to shift a load of cold hydraulic fluid, the steering will be virtually rock solid and no way would you be able to perform an emergency avoiding action if needed and thats without the very real possibility of frying the engine if the waterpump is not working. Get it collected.
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