1990 LS400 Steering rack??

[persevere]

Just looked under my "new" to me, 1990 LS400 for signs of what to do about HARD steering and noticed a threaded hole on the passenger side of the rack with nothing in it. The threads are clean and the machined boss around threads looks as if there was a washer there. ANY assistance is GREATLY appreciated. THANKS :feedback:

 

[Lextreme II]

Which hole are you talking about. Can you take a picture of it?

 

[persevere]

1990 LS400 Steering Rack

Here is the pic. THANKS

 

[Lextech]

That is 1 of the mounting holes for the steering damper ( kind of like a skinny shock absorber ).

 

[persevere]

So, I should look for the attach point for the other end of the damper...any ideas why this car steers so hard? It is not as if there is no power assist, just like it is only working maybe 50%. THANKS again

 

[Nick M]

Hard is a relative term. Without driving it, nobody can even determine if there is a defect.

Does the difficulty go away as the car warms?

 

[Lextech]

The pump pressure could be low, the rack control valve could be acting up, the solenoid on the rack may not be working, the pwr.str. ECU may not be working, or there could be a restriction in a hose or the cooler. The power steering on these cars is actually fairly complex. There is no way to acurately diagnose it on a forum----sorry.

 

[persevere]

Nick M, My son has a LS400 also. Mine steers using about twicw the person-power.
The dificulty does not go away as car warms, it is constant under all conditions. THANKS

LEXTECH, the nearest LEX dealer is a 3 hour drive away, I will see what they can determine.THANKS for you assistance and advice.