2 times in the past year, my power steering has gone "dead" (well maybe not "dead" like trying to turn wheel when car is off, but def much harder in general to steer and control around turns) during a drive. both times it has been right after hitting a small pavement dip at a relatively fast speed. note that this dip wasnt enough to cause damage/significantly bottom out the car, but definitely enough to scrape the front bumper slightly/compress the suspension harshly, etc.

and FYI i hit these same pavement dips on a regular basis without incident for the most part. i also track a lot and never had this incident on the track.

soooo, the steering goes numb/difficult until i turn off car and turn on again, as if the system needed to...reboot...? the only thing reasearch turned up was a suggestion about air in the system maybe? could harsh bumps be producing a "burp" in the system or maybe some blockage that isnt flushed until restart/startup?

anyone else experience this?

 

Have you flushed it as recommended every 2 years? or more often if you track?

 

uh...no...isnt it one of the "lifetime" fluids, like coolant is supposed to be? but anyway, wait, IF it's supposed to be flushed, shouldnt that have been part of the 20k mi svc? i dont have my receipt handy, but just askin...

 

I am having the same issue - were you able to figure out what the problem was?

 

well i was WAY off with the cause of the symptom - it turns out that my suspension was locking in the compressed position. i guess due to geometry, slightly bending drop links, etc, my suspension was going past a certain point and getting stuck. a new alignment, diff springs and other little tweaks solved it.