I'm having some troubles with my steering. It seems that occasionally my steering gets really hard to turn and very "jerky" especially at low speeds. I've read that this could be caused by a bad waterpump leaking on the belt. Any easy quick way to check if my pump is going bad or should I just bite the bullet and fork over money to get another one and save the Opti from having to go swimming Also, whats the best and cheapest way to get another waterpump?

 

TTT I was doing a search on exact same thing. Any ideas? i first had trouble steering (hard) and then 2 hours later my water pump took a dump. will replacing the water pump cure the steering problem?

 

You may want to try replacing the belt...

 

mine is real jerky at low speeds as well...i.e. parking at low speeds. Mine isn't hard to turn, but does make that shuddering feeling when you turn the wheel. Maybe that is the same thing. I had some one look at it but couldn't figure out what the exact problem was. I need some help too!!

 

check it out this makes total since to me, i just need to try and share it with ya. your power steering is a round thing that is run on the backside of the belt. so if it gets wet, hence your water pump going bad, it will cause it to slip. thus not able to get your pump to work. i hope this helps and i did confirm it with the dude at the mech shop.

 

how can you tell if the water pump is bad...what are the symptoms?

Thanks,

JOHN

 

it has a weep hole and will start to leak, just look under the water pump, if you see any coolant weeping out its bad and needs to be change, always a good thing to check once in a while to save to opti