Lost my power steering pump with AutoRx

[XJay]

The car is Acura Integra 97 with 138K miles. When i added autorx to the power steering reservoir it immediately made a loud noise and when I drove it I lost power steering assist. Went on to replace the pump. Is this just coincidental?

George

 

[prax]

Sorry to hear about that.

How much did you add? Instructions say to use only 1 oz/qt.

 

[XJay]

I just eyeballed it. It's not really accurate how much I put. I put half of the bottle in my engine (maintenace)and some to my power steering reservoir.

 

[mopar_monkey]

maybe it just foamed up, try letting it sit for a few hours and try it again, worth a shot

 

[Dr_No]

Baste out the resevoir or remove the bottom hose and drain it, then refill with new, regular PSF.

 

[XJay]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried all those suggestions but to no avail. Bit the bullet and replaced the pump.

 

[ThirdeYe]

From now on, I would recommend just using a clean turkey baster to siphon out and refill the reservoir once or twice a year. That's what I do and mine's still working like new at ~172k. Sorry to hear about your pump! Hopefully you didn't have to pay too much, and were able to get a used one.

 

[XJay]

Midas put in a reman pump and flushed the system..... $407.

 

[RF Overlord]

Isn't Acura just a tarted-up Honda? I know Honda is really picky about P/S fluid, but I have a hard time believing that a few ounces of ARX would cause an "immediate" failure.

 

[NYSteve]

Usually they only way Auto-Rx would cause such a catastrophic failure is if there was literally only sludge and build up holding together what was left of the seals. Even in this case I would imagine it wouldn't be immediate as auto-rx is suppose to be a gentler, gradual cleaner. I would chalk it up to coincidence but would still bug me.

 

[Ken2]

I've used Auto-Rx in the prescribed amounts in two PS units without problem.

Was your system low and the pump got nothing but a slug of A-Rx instead of its needed hydraulic fluid? Could there have been two things going on with your PS at the same time?

 

[unDummy]

Toss some ARX into your new pump. If it doesn't fail immediately, your old pump was already shot. If it does fail, must've been a bum rebuild. So, have the shop replace it again and don't use ARX with the PSF.

 

[JMJNet]

Acura needs Honda's exclusive PSF. They are picky. It is probably on its way out anyway. Auto-RX cleans the system causes it to have higher pressure or something like that.

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: XJay
The car is Acura Integra 97 with 138K miles. When i added autorx to the power steering reservoir it immediately made a loud noise and when I drove it I lost power steering assist. Went on to replace the pump. Is this just coincidental?

George


I am just wondering if you had the original fluid in there, have you ever had the fluid changed while you have owned this vehicle.

 

[XJay]

Yeah, I turkey baste the power steering reservoir and replaced it with Honda PSF three months ago. It's only when I have extra auto RX that I put in my engine and some to my power steering fluid.

 

[XJay]

I am not going to experiment by putting autoRx into that reman power steering unit. I think it is not worth it.

 

[mechanicx]

Not to knock on AutoRX but someone else on here claimed their transmission started to shift bad after autoRX. Maybe it's coincidence. I was under the assumption that AutoRX while not that effective at cleaning engines was good with cleaning the type of deposits in transmissions and PS units. I also heard that AutoRX tends to remove deposits in large pieces as opposed to disolving them so maybe could clog passages. That doesn't sound good since transmissions are not supposed to be flushed for the same reasons. I'm not a fan of additives other than MMO in a sludged engine, cooling system cleaners and the fuel system cleaners.

 

[Basil]

My friend has a 1999 Civic. It only had 25k on it when he got it. Rarely used. We tried ARX in it and put about 2.5 ounces and we had the same squeel from the pump. We then replaced the fluid in there and used just 1 oz instead. No noise.

Don't use too much ARX in a PS system especially with those systems that use PSF and not ATF because it is a thinner fluid. Too much ARX makes the relatively low amount of fluid in the system too viscous and you get pump noise.

 

[XJay]

I think that's what happened. Be careful of the dose of AutoRx you are putting in.