Power Steering Maintenance (see issue)
 

What most don't know is that there is a filter trap inside the power steering tank. what happens over time, the rubber hose starts to break down and you get the debris from the hose trapped in your tank. this will eventually make it down to your steering system and will cause issues in the long run. it will also disrupt the flow and cause steering noise and etc... so you should flush out the power steering fluid. pull the tank out and clean the inside thoroughly with a brake cleaner and air compressor. fill back with fluid and use QB Power Steering Catalyst to help protect your steering system.

pic of power steering line to drain fully. once line is disconnected, start motor for a few minutes to cycle out system.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/2da66dee.jpg

pic of inside power steering tank. when cleaning, besure to blow air from the underside up and continue to soak with cleaner to drip most of the debris.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/411561ea.jpg

the next part to eliminating steering noise that most don't know about. you get the fluid flushed, cleaned, replaced and added the QB catalyst. now you will most likely still have some steering noise and it's not your steering fluid that's the cause. from underneath the motor, locate the steering rod coming from the fire wall. you'll see a black boot covering the end of the steering rod, before it goes into the firewall. push back the black protector boot and you'll see a brownish rubber ring, that's the culprit for steering noise. from the factory it's lightly greased, but of course, over time it starts to build up with dirt and makes noise when turning.

here is a pic of steering rod with black boot.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/2fab9857.jpg

pull back the boot and you'll see the brownish rubber ring.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/73173c42.jpg

you wanna wipe the old dirty grease off and re-grease it lightly, i used BND's ACES all purpose grease, which works perfectly. i even used it to eliminate the noise from my hotchkis front sway bushing.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/7e15c350.jpg

hope this helps the family... take care! Jimmy

PART 2
it's been hot as shit with the humidity, but toughed it out, sweating bullets and here are the pix on how to for the interior steering column lube.

what you need to lube. i used Liquid Wrench White Lithium Grease, because hand grease is too difficult to reach and spread. the spray grease is much easier to work with.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2569.jpg

you have the option to remove the off white panel, located beneathe the steering wheel. i chose to remove it, because it allows you to see more of what your doing. this is optional.
to remove the panel, first remove the side trim piece on the side of the dash, it pops out.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2583.jpg
you need to remove two screws, 1) from the side trim piece you just removed and 2) underneath the dash, by the hood pull lever.
1)http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2576.jpg
2)http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2578.jpg
this is what it will look like once removed. btw, unclip the rear trunk opener button and set a side. don't try to disconnect the hood latch, not worth the trouble.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2575.jpg

if you chose not to remove the panel, it's fine. regardless you need to remove the insulation carpet piece that is underneathe the drivers dash. there are two gromets that have to be removed, 1) is just about the e-brake pedal and 2) is beside 2nd screw to remove lower panel.
1)http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2579.jpg
2)http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2580.jpg

pic of carpet that needs to be removed to gain access to the steering column. before removing, remember how it's placed, better to take a pic, so you know how to put it back exactly the way it was. not to difficult to figure out otherwise.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2581.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2582.jpg

once you have the carpet and optional panel removed, this is what you should see. you may want to remove the carpet, if you have sensitive skin like me.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2566.jpg

now i hope you have a good shop lamp or flash light or in a well lighted area. looking behind the metal shield, you'll see the elbows for the steering column and they go into a big black rubber boot. the boot helps protect the steering column and interior from getting water in and damaging components.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2573.jpg

you wanna push back the rubber boot to expose the white protector cup. this is optional as well, because you could always spray into the opening of the boot, which will still drip into the white cup, which surrounds the steering column bottom. it just makes it easier to see what your doing if you do push the black boot back. here is a pic with the boot pushed back.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2551.jpg
this is where you wanna spray the lubricant into.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2562.jpg
once that's done, this is what it should look like.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...T/DSCN2568.jpg


after you've lubricated, do steps in reverse. make sure that you pull the black rubber boot back up and over the white cup for protection. after i did this, the slight steering noise i was hearing from the interior was gone. now this will be different for all, depending on how many miles you have. i'm at 52k, which is why i been going crazy with ALL flushes, lubricating, readjusting pedal points, etc......................

once again, i hope this helps the family out and keep me posted.
thank you!
jimmy

refer to steps. i just updated the interior steering column lube.

awesome write up, thx!

D a n a