ive noticed that whenever i drive through a decent size puddle, that my power steering kicks off. i have no idea why it would do this. i have a cold air intake, but i dont think the water level is high enough to be reaching it. and it is only while driving in water. any ideas?

note: i dont make it a habit of driving through puddles. its been raining a lot here in the florida panhandle and builds up a lot on the roads and especially in turning lanes. i try to avoid these as much as possible. however, sometimes its unavoidable.

 

I think what you are describing is called "hydroplaning", that is when you drive through lets say a puddle or something, and the tires lose contact with the road momentarily due to the rise of water and you going too fast, and the steering wheel kicks and the car will pull towards the puddle. Keep both hands on the steering wheel when it is raining in Florida, hydroplaning can get very dangerous.

 

Depending on how deep the water is, I guess it could be that the water is putting enough pressure on the wheel to make it extremely difficult to turn, even with the power steering.

Kinda like it's harder to breath when you're in the swimming pool than when you're out.

 

Here's my two cents, the water may be splashing up on the serpentine belt and causing it to slip for a second or two. When your belt slips it won't turn the power steering pump.

Andy

 

Yeah, I was going to say water on the belt too. If you aren't getting assist, that is the reason.

If you turn the wheel, but the car doesn't turn, it's hydroplaning.

Dan

 

okay, i understand hyrdroplaning and i know its not that. i actually just thought of something else to add. the check guages light comes on when this happens. also, it can happen going through at a relatively moderate to slow speed. also the pump will shut off for ~5-10sec. the first time couple times it did it, i assumed that the pump was going out. then it never did it again. so i left it alone. then i started noticing it did it only when it was raining and i was going through some decent size puddles. any of this help? thanks guys.

 

The check gauges light might come on because you have momentarily lost the belt pull to the alternator, too.

 

Be careful with that CAI in deep water your motor can suck water into the intake and engine damage can occur.
I have the splash guards off my Z with a K&N CAI and I avoid standing water like the plague.
Just a heads up.

 

My 86 blazer did the same thing after I took the fan shroud off. That's what I think it would be.

 

yeah water on the belt, do you still have your silencer on? if your cai sucks water up it usually falls into the silencer. we were working on a buddys car that had a cai and he went thru puddles often, well the silencer had quite a bit of water in it, problably saved his motor from hydro lock.