Hey guys, i searched on this a lot, so if i'm retarded just be nice and link me if i missed it...

anyways, i was heading home tonight in my 99 GS 5spd, and i suddenly loss power steering at about 45 mph thru a slight curve in the road. needless to say, it scared the crap outta me. steering suddenly became REALLY TIGHT. i knew exactly what it was, but there was no light, no warning, only panic. the only thing i was doing at the time was accelerating hard (6500 rpms before i shifted 1st to 2nd to 3rd then FUCK!!! i pulled over, shut it off, waited. no noises, no lights, no warning, no more power steering. turned the car off and waited this time. no luck. got back on the road. put it in 'N' and shut it off a few times while rolling... it didn't come back for the 10 miles i had left to go home, and now i'm super worried about it. i haven't done a lot of mods, certainly not lately, have no idea what the issue is. i checked the PS fluid about 2 months ago and all was fine. any ideas? thanks.

snuffy
1999 10th ann GS

check it again maybe a leak??? Is the belt still there???

now that it's light outside i can see the belt slipped. did revving high cause this? it was scary as hell because i lost it through a pretty fast sweeping corner! anyways, the belt is still there, still in one piece from what i can see. i don't know how i'm going to get it back on myself, but at least i can see what the prob is.

I had this happen to me before when I was at like 6700 rpms into second gear, all I did was put it back on and made sure it was tightened really good, and it still hasn't come off yet, and i have taken my car up to 7,000 RPMS already, multiple times. Also make sure the belt is centered on the pulleys, that is the main reason that the belt will just "walk off" sometimes

where do i loosen the tensioner? it's not a serpentine belt is it?

that belt seems to go around at least 5 diff pulleys... did it hurt to drive it like that on my way home? can i drive it now?

i thought it was a single belt for AC and PS, but i just called satan and he told me it's a separate belt for each... ???

No it's not seperate belts for each. Just P/S and A/C. Mine broke a couple thousand miles ago. Drove it for over a week like that, no problem, besides turning hard and no A/C, just go to Napa or something and score a new one for $8-$12. There is a tensioner right below the P/S pump. Some people actuallu leave them off for better performance, no loss from A/C and P/S pumps, usually gives ya a couple extra ponies....

John

cool, well thank you all for your help. i just had midas put a new one on for $70 :S. it's been raining like crazy all day here, i have no garage anymore, i have to look for a new job because i'm about to get laid off, and most of my tools are in storage. wasn't exactly a good day for me to mess with my car...

what exactly do people leave off for extra hp? the belts themselves? :P i definitely couldn't do without my AC or my PS. besides when driving in a straight line (which i'm not a big fan of), you're going to suffer more of a loss without PS than the HP advantage is worth, i'm sure. crazy how much harder cars with PS are to drive when the PS goes out, compared to a car that was built without PS!

some people told me after you get that new belt you need to tighten it a week or 2 later because it has some initial stretching... ??? but isn't that tensioner spring-loaded?

mos definitely needs to be retightened.....I lost a gatorback 4 days after puttin my UDP in....the Bando belt has held strong since....