Repair-It

This has been progressing and it started to get pretty bad on our trip to NH. I first took notice of an issue about a month ago while parking.

The symptoms:
- At idle RPM and with a stopped vehicle, there is no power steering assist when the system is warm. It is marginal when cold.
- You can give it some revs and it helps but it still doesn't build proper pressure.
- It whines noticeably under these conditions.

Parking the vehicle is actually somewhat unsafe and I "enjoyed" wrestling with the wheel at parking lot speeds all week.

Research on the Cadillac Forums has revealed several common power steering related issues with the SRX:
1. Variable assist solenoid issues, a part of the rack (don't think I have this issue, as the failure mode is permanently high or low assist, but not NO assist)
2. Power steering fluid leaks (if it leaks, it isn't at a rate that I'd feel inclined to fix anything at this time)
3. Power steering pump failure, with whine and poor assist (bingo)

I already ordered a pump from Chris McCabe (ironically I did not think of trying to stop by on my way back from NH today - doh). $155 or so.

I can't say I'm very forgiving. My Caprice is sporting the factory pump at 294k.

It doesn't look like an awful job, just a regularly annoying job. The FSM specifies a pulley puller and installer, which I don't have. If I need to remove the pulley to get to all the bracket bolts, I will need to rent something.

See my other post for my general thoughts of road tripping in the SRX.

I performed the bleed procedure as written in the FSM.

I don't think it made a difference. It seemed to have some assist at idle but I think that was a combination of having cooled down a bit and being on the concrete garage floor (less friction on the tires). I don't think a fluid flush would restore it, either.

Got the new pump. Actually it may be a reman. Rockauto actually sells this exact P/N for $10 cheaper than I paid through Chris McCabe at Banks Chevrolet Cadillac GMC in Concord, NH (could have swung by if I hadn't spaced out about that).

A little surprise here...

Made in Japan. O rly? These always look somewhat diminutive naked (sans pulley), considering they make up to almost 1,800 psi of hydraulic pressure. What's this, then? KYB??? So the infamous Keep Your Bilsteins Corp makes the OEM pump for the SRX. Imagine that.

I'm just a little smugly satisfied that the OEM Japanese part failed when my 294k Caprice is doing fine on the original pump. No legitimate conclusions can be drawn here, obviously, but I won't let facts get in the way of a little smug satisfaction.

For a fully, proper mind blowing experience, I looked up my CTS-V pump on Rockauto. Actually the CTS-V (FE4) seems to use a different pump. But the base CTS pump (if I understand Rockauto correctly) is this:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinf ... 478&jpid=0

Take a look at the casting stamp.









Did you look yet?

It says: "TOYODA," which I understand to be a division of Toyota. Or it's something else. Either way, sounds Japanese.

The Sigma platform appears to be a genuine world car conglomeration.

But anyway, that pump survived rural NC, complete with puking fluid out of the reservoir due to fluid heat. So that's something.

So I started the job around 2pm on Tuesday, after taking the afternoon off of work.

I decided to set it up as far back as possible so I could still close the door, but to give me as much room in the front of the car as possible. First, remove the entire air intake assembly, including the air filter housing. The MAF harness plug was different than my old GM stuff so I had some fun with that. Then, remove the belt (or just from the power steering pulley). Also, pull the large plastic air diffuser from under the car to make way for a drainage path for all the fluid mess.

I rented a pulley puller and installer set from NAPA. It is set up on the pulley. Can you see it? Follow the A/C hose down... I would consider removal of the pulley to be the most pleasant part of the job. That sets the stage a little bit. Next I decided to remove the fluid reservoir for better access in the area. I was now an hour into the job.

The next steps I have no pictures for. Essentially:
- Disconnect pressure line from pump. This proved to be rather frustrating due to the tight clearances. Initially it seemed like I could barely get a wrench in there, let alone turn it. I probably spent a lot of time just staring at it. To get the pressure line out of the way of one of the mounting bolts you also have to remove a nut that holds a line bracket to the pump. I could see this from above, but couldn't reach it. From below, I could feel it, but not see it. I ended up removing it from below with my wife's guidance if I was touching the right thing. Yeah.

Then it's just two bolts to pull the pump out. One bolt runs longitudinally on the pump itself and the other runs transverse into a bracket bolted to the pump. These can both be access from the top but the transverse one is tight.

It was now after 5:30pm. You can see the A/C compressor here. Old pump and reservoir in the drain pan. At 7:15, the new pump was bolted in. I think that delay included a break for dinner.

The new pump came with some kind of connector that was like a large flare nut, but with an O-ring on the end. It also looked like it supported some kind of one-time quick connect to the pressure line itself. I thought I was supposed to remove the old fitting from the old line and use this one but I'm thinking that a new line may come without the fitting and you can thread the fitting into the pump on the bench, and then easily snap the line into the fitting in the car. This would certainly have made reassembly quicker. Probably done that way at the factory, too. At 9:30 I was basically done with the reassembly and I bled it a bit. It probably was ready to drive at this point (in terms of power steering function) but I wanted to do more bleeding and all the cleanup, plus the air diffuser. So I punted for the night and took the morning off the next day to finish.

I was just intrigued that I was able to close the garage door with this much room in front. Not terrible for a standard attached 2 car. Plus my old house had a single car garage so this is an upgrade.

The next morning I just bled some more, cleaned up and installed the lower air diffuser. I also replaced the air filter while I was at it (it was quite nasty) and sprayed the MAF.

The end result is correctly functioning power steering. No whine and effort feels correct at all speeds.

I did try to flush the fluid and had little luck with the factory directions (attached). I also attached the bleeding procedure.

But I did try it and I think I did pump some new fluid in there. Aside from replacing the pump I also flushed the reservoir. So really only the rack and however much in the lines and cooler was left of the old fluid. Hopefully I got at least half of it out. I think contaminated fluid is a prime cause of premature replacement pump failure, which has been reported on the forum.

The forum, btw, called this a 4-5 hour job. I'd agree with that. I work slow and took breaks.

I hope I don't have to do it again. I would be a LOT faster though.

As they say, experience is that thing you get right AFTER you needed it.

Wow, this was a big job. I'm sure Jamie appreciated you taking her new car apart so soon!

It is very nice to be able to close the garage door, and finish up in the morning.

Do I see a balance bike in the background?! Has Ian tried it out, or have you been hogging it?

I had to adjust both the seat and handle bars up from their lowest settings, but he will sit on the seat and sort of walk himself around on it. He has gone up and down the hill in my yard like that so that's something. No coasting yet. I'm a believer in the concept (that training wheels are pointless); however, I don't know if I agree that you must start them at 18 months (this bike advertises 18 months to 5 years which is an insane range). The older kids will pick it up faster, simple as that.