ok my power steering failed, I only had my evo for a month and 1400 miles
to tell you the truth im not sure what happened
last night it was really cold and raining so I decided to do some doghuts in a parking lot, So I turned the wheel to the left, reved up to 6000 rps an let go, everthing was ok but after a second i heard this whisling sound, after that my power steering stopped working.
i still dont know how could this happen to a $30000 dollar car
hopefully its covered under warranty.
moral of this story: ............
pete

 

Ummm...

Hmmm... that might be the reason why.

 

It tells you in the manual is you turn all the way right of left for too long the pump will burn out. It is cooled by flow of the fluid and you stoped the flow for a long time!

 

Yes, the same thing happens on regular lancers. You cant hold the wheel all the way to one side for a while or the pump get burnt out.

 

I have had that happen with my other car when the wheel is turned full lock, and the engine is revved.. I'd burn up a steering pump.. it just seems that there isn't enough fluid to keep things lubricated in full lock position.. especially if your doing donuts, your going to sling what is left of the fluid to the side of the resevoir and starve the pump....

 

Especially coupled with the fact that the power steering pump in an Evo is a lot beefier than a normal car, therefore requires more cooling.

Personally petem, I hope that they don't honor the warranty claim, because it wasn't a manufacturer defect, but a driver not following instructions defect.

 

Why does he get an Evo and not me?

 

because score he can and that seems to be the reason some get them

 

Because, you might know what your doing.

"i still dont know how could this happen to a $30000 dollar car"

Yeah, if I spend 30k on a car I expect it to be idiot proof, or did you not get that option?

/<

 

It was a rhetorical question.

 

don't count me as 'all of us'. I haven't read the manual front to back and I also did not know about a problem with the pump locking up during full turn. The only thing about the PS I was aware of was that it creates some more pressure then the regular lancer. This sounds like something that could happen to anyone, even people who can't spell moron. I also think that anyone who decides to use this car on off road rally style courses may run into this problem even more often then the street guys.

 

Yah.. I would be inclined to agree there somewhat.. However I don't know how often you'll run full lock while rallying at high RPM.. Its possible but not intentionally.... The only time you may need to turn the wheels to a full lock is when your making a really tight turn, if you were attempting to make such a tight turn in a controlled situation, you probably wouldn't be revving the motor high enough to damage the pump, and it probably wouldn't be in that position very long..

Let me add, doing donuts really does border on abusing hardware.. I'm sure it wasn't an easy thing to do either.. That car must have been saying ouch after that one..

I can't really criticize someone for having a little fun with their cars.. But any pump that relies on its fluid for lubrication could seize up if run dry, on any car.. not just the Evo.. The fact that it says it can damage the pump if left in the full lock position in the manual is interesting to me.. But it makes sense.. With its close ratio, tight steering, etc... Putting it in the manual is sort of like putting it in a contract.. They can definitely point out that it clearly states that this can cause damage and is therefore user error.. But truthfully, I think your warranty will cover it.. Just use better judgement next time... (Take out someones Beemer and do it to that car instead.. hehe)

 

Time to chalk this one up as:

USER ERROR

Too much or too much can ruin your day.

 

I don't think he is a "loser", he maybe made a mistake by doing donuts with his car, but after all, most of the ads about "performance" cars feature that sort of thing. I've been around for a long time and I've never read a warning about that in any car manual that I remember reading.... Another thing, I bet that no more than 50% of car owners bother to read the users manual and few of the ones who do can remember every damned thing in it.....

Anyway, calling somebody a "moron" and a "loser" is just not nice. I think it's uncalled for. I hope he gets his car repaired properly and gets to enjoy it without further problems. I'm sure he'll not be doing any more donuts with it

 

The guy did a donut.
Big deal.
I bet the rest of you have powder puffs that you only use to drive to church on Sunday.