Help Fast I Have No Power Steering?

[falkofire]

I was with some friends tonight showing them my car...and I when I left...I drove a lil bit down the road...and all of the sudden I have no power steering...so whats goin on...its a belt driven thing isn't it...so I believe I notice that my belt is not apparent there...would that be my problem..and where can I get a new one??

[Equinox]

yeah if you look in yoru engine bay and on the passenger side, there is no belt going over all that crap there... liek air conditioning and so on, you will have no power steering.

Your alternator also will no longer generate power for the battery, and your a/c will not compress air.

You probably just threw a belt. It's a very simple thing to repair. A whole lot of people, especially owners of older cars know how to put one back on. Either get a new belt from an autoparts store, or a mazda/ford dealership. Most auto parts stores have a database of which car uses what stuff, although a lot don't have anything as recent as 2000+ cars. Best bet is a dealer.

I think our cars have a sticker on the underside of the hood that shows just how the belt is run over all the machinery. You have to run it exactly like it shows otherwise you will turn a pump or compressor the wrong way.

To put it on, you just loosen a bolt on the tension wheel, which is just a wheel the belt goes on, that you can loosen and move about. See you run the belt all up and over the different wheels and pulleys, just liek in the picture on the underside of the hood, and then over the tension pulley that is also in the picture, when you get it aroudn all the stuff, you tighten the tension wheel, so that it pulls the belt tight agaisnt the rest of the wheels.

[falkofire]

good.....at least I know for sure now...thanx

[Equinox]

hehe yeah no problem, I threw a belt once as well, it just suddenly got really hard to steer, and all my dash lights and radio lights dimmed a little. Got a belt put back on under warranty cause my belt snapped for some reason, luckily I still had the belt with me to show them.

[falkofire]

how much do u think the belt will be?

[alexlitov]

I think it's around $50
probably less than that.

[uclap5]

off topic, but is it possible to remove all the power steering stuff? just relating to another thread about some guy wanting to do weight reduction, and i remember reading somehwere all the power steering crap weighs a hundred lbs or so.

anyone tried doing this or considered it?

it would make driving a nice upperbody workout. :D

[falkofire]

and how difficult will it be to replace?

[LinuxRacr]

Accually guys, I don't belive the power steering, and AC belt is the same as the altenator belt. I know..(nobody)

[falkofire]

well solve my problem then...?

[falkofire]

bump

[falkofire]

And Can somone help me with how to do this or is it pretty straight forward?

[falkofire]

ttt

[falkofire]

no one can help?

[alexlitov]

Go look. Do you have any belts missing? My other mazda doesnt' have power steering and drives just fine. It's a bit too hard to park it sometimes, but i'm used to it.

[blynzoo]

Originally posted by falkofire
And Can somone help me with how to do this or is it pretty straight forward? It is very straighforward. Ask for the belt for your car. If there is a separate alternator belt, it will be the "auxilliaries" belt, meaning the belt that runs PS and AC, maybe water pump as well. The belt will be less than $30 through a retailer if they have them, I am not sure what dealers charge for belts. THere will be a tensioning bolt on one of the pulleys that allows you to move that pulley in and out to loosen and tighten the belt. Just loosen the bolt and slide the pulley in. Slide the belt over the pulleys, slide the tensioning pulley back out, and tighten. That's it, you can do it in less than five minutes on most cars....

edit..I just searched and didnt find a belt online, contact your dealer and have them sell you one. They will have them in stock.

[Equinox]

Originally posted by blynzoo
It is very straighforward. Ask for the belt for your car. If there is a separate alternator belt, it will be the "auxilliaries" belt, meaning the belt that runs PS and AC, maybe water pump as well. The belt will be less than $30 through a retailer if they have them, I am not sure what dealers charge for belts. THere will be a tensioning bolt on one of the pulleys that allows you to move that pulley in and out to loosen and tighten the belt. Just loosen the bolt and slide the pulley in. Slide the belt over the pulleys, slide the tensioning pulley back out, and tighten. That's it, you can do it in less than five minutes on most cars....

edit..I just searched and didnt find a belt online, contact your dealer and have them sell you one. They will have them in stock.

yeah just like what I said, only he made sense =)

[falkofire]

I got it all done...thanx guys..everything is working well...I also gutted the car...taking out spare tire...seats ect..goin to the races tonight prolly (thumb)

[falkofire]

Ill be sure to report back what I run ect..and get some more pics of my new set up engine