Power steering on a lowered car. HELP ME!! Quick, you can be yet another hero today!

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SmokeyClay

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Im out of options here...

I lowered my car (04) with the Eibach kit and my power steering was working fine up until several months after the kit was already on. My power steering went out after a sharp turn (with the wheel all the way to one side).

I took it to the stealership and they said they replaced the pump but it wont be the same because of the way the car was built. That it wasn't built to be lowered etc. I also had my taillights out and they said that because of the electronic steering system that makes the wheel firmer at higher speeds, it was now affecting other area's of the car.

Now my car doesn't have power steering and I don't know what to do...?

Has anyone with a lowered LS experienced these problems?
 
:bsflag:

Im on my 3rd lowered LS and never had problems like that before. Your dealer is full of it. The LS can be lowered.
 
Clay... It sounds like it's time for you to find another dealer.

Whom ever you talked to at that dealership is giving you the runaround.
What happened after they replaced the PS pump?
What size wheels and tires are you running and do you have clearance issues up front with them?
What we really need is more information from you about your problem.

I take it that your LS still runs and you are able to drive it, but without the power steering. So did the pump fail? Did the steering rack fail? Did it throw the belt?

In my opinion, your PS failure has nothing to do with lowering the car 1". Does your dealer think that putting the original springs back on will make the PS work again? What you need to do is find out what failed and then find the cause for that failure.
As for that tail light nonsence... that's just plain crazy.
 
After they replaced the PS pump nothing changed. It is still as if the car does not have power steering, except if im over 2500 RPM's or so and have my foot on the accelerator.

The car is running stock 17's with a 245/45 tire... no clearence issues.

I think im going to do the logical thing and go to another dealer.

also... I spoke with someone from Eibach on the phone, but they didn't have much to tell me other than its my word against the dealers.
 
since it's speed related my guess is it's gonna be something to do with the variable assist valve and NOTHING to do w/lowered. I hope you didn't have to pay for a pump if it didn't fix your problem.
 
Ok Clay, that helps us in knowing what is happening.

So my question now is...
WHY DID THEY GIVE YOU BACK A CAR THAT IS STILL NOT WORKING RIGHT???

That's just plain stupid. Your LS is still under warranty right? It's no skin off their noses to fix the problem and have FMC pay the bill. I just don't understand how your dealer can do business like that.

So it's either the steering rack or the assist valve, both of which have been know to fail in earlier LS. Though this is the first time I have heard of it happening to a '03+ LS.

I hope you can get it taken care of and back on the road before your arms fall off.
 
Wait a minute...I don't think his problem is with the thing being lowered, he's saying the Variable Power Assist isn't working due to the tail lights being out of the car. You know, these things can have some crazy electrical gremlins. What the dealer said makes no sense at first, but when you think about it, I would have to say it's possible. Feedback, etc can cause some very weird things to happen. I would say put the tail lights in so everything works correctly, disconnect the battery for a while, then fire it back up and see if it helps. If not, I would say you have another problem with the VPA that needs looking at.
 
I didn't pay for any of the work they did on the car.

They replaced the tail light bulbs and also some relay switch that has to do with the windshield wipers. The tail lights are working fine now.

Since we know the problem isn't the PS pump (since a new one is in the car), what is the next thing i should look at? Variable power assist?
 
Yes, variable power assist then your rack. Since it seems related to speed I'm betting $$$ on the VAPS solenoid. It's pretty easy to get to IIRC
 
and by the way you need to find a new dealer lol. There are diag procedures (pressure tests and logging via ECU, etc.) that would have allowed them to nail down the problem before they just started swapping parts. They could have EASILY tested pressures before the VAPS to rule out the pump.
 
I have already found a new dealer and hopefully they will be more willing to help than these other idiots.

I am going to have the new dealer see if they can fix it and mention some of the things you all have mentioned here.

Thank you for your time! My arms are getting a great workout in the mean time!
 
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