Power Steering went out! 19K miles !!!
 

UPDATE down below and on page 2.

I was out of town 260 miles away in my 40th Anniversary Z, and my power steering went out when I was at the parking lot at the time, thank God for that! I opened the hood to check what's going on and found out the power steering reservoir was empty. I was confused about what just happened. So I looked under the car and saw drips of oil dripping in small amounts.

So I went to the auto store in another car to get some power steering in hope so i can add some more and perhaps drive home.
Started filling power steering and after 1.5 qts, sounds like a seal went out, it was a loud popping sound and everything what i put in went on the ground.

So end of story... I had to drive the car with no power steering all the way home for 260 miles. Had no choice. Got home safely, just experienced what 1980s cars had to offer back in the day lol. Im pretty sure my power steering pump is all gone now as well after the drive.

I don't know what happened, what have caused this??? Clueless what went wrong!

So Im planning to take the Z to the dealer and see if it's going to be covered under warranty. I mean the car only has 19K miles on it.

So my question has anyone experienced anything like this??? Will the dealership cover this under warranty? I read the seals go out on the steering racks on some Zs, regardless if it's modded or not. But not sure yet what happened to mine.

Our Power Steering racks was "famous" of seeping oil..very common.

At 19K miles the dealer should absolutely take care of this under warranty. But if you're in a 2010, you are long past the 3 year period. If you use a Nissan dealer regularly for service (even if not for the Z), they might do the work under "good will" service. Otherwise, you'll probably be paying for the repairs yourself.

Yeah guys Im not sure what went out on mine, the power steering rack or the pump. It looked like it was dripping out of the rack assembly and not the pump when I saw the dripping under the car.

I think I should get the car on the jack stands and see what has failed. Just to see what im dealing with before calling or taking her to a dealer.

That is the first thing I would do. GL :tiphat:

How is it driving the Z without power steering? I would imagine even more raw :D I remember power sliding some old muscle cars without power steering around my buddy's land. So much fun ... and a nice work out :icon17:

It really isn't bad at all at speeds over 20 mph. The faster you travel the easier it is to steer. At lower speeds get ready to use some muscle, especially when stationary.

Power steering ruins road feel anyway...

The steering in my 240Zs is superior to the 370Z's.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. FYI cars with powers steering that is broken are much harder to drive then those that never had power steering in the first place.

That's' correct. It is indeed.

Anyway I'll be posting more information on this after I start working on the car.

I had a brand new 90 Iroc z and I was cranking the steering wheel through the window to line it up on a ramp while the engine was off. The F&cking steering shaft snaped a bolt, (wide tires)and I was stuck. I had to have the car pushed down a narrow driveway onto a flat bed and it sat at a dealer for 2 weeks. I picked up the car and two weeks later it was stolen. Should of heard the wife bitch about that one ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Mac

^^^ yeahhh that's crazy! man that's a story you got there Mac!

Anyway it appears that Im the only one with this kind of story where my Steering rack blew a seal or something, that everything was dumped on the ground and I had to drive the car long distance with no power steering.

Alright guys here's an update. LIfted the car up and found out that the driver power steering boot is ripped. You can see in the 2nd pic the boot is being blown on the top.

But I wonder where was the main leak coming from in the 1st place??? The popping sound that accrued later where all the fluid went on the ground seemed like came from this blown boot. I didn't find any more leaks other then the boot being ripped though. Hmmmmm...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...ps94w5kf5x.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...psxj2hek8o.jpg

That sucks man. GL with the fix. Here's some details from the Steering section of the FSM that may or may not help you :twocents:

Thanks a lot JarBlue, that may actually be pretty handy to have now.

That boot popped from all the fluid filling it up . Mac

Mac so what you're saying the boot got overfilled somehow? So something somewhere there failed and leaked all the fluid to the boot until it got popped? All the fluid is leaking out of that boot right now, not sure if it's even suppose to have power steering fluid in there or not.

There is a seal on the shaft, under the boot. The boot is just to protect the seal. One of two things happen. Pick one. The seal was leaking. Allowing fluid to build up in the boot. When you turned the steering wheel to the one side. The fluid had no where to go. So it ripped the boot open. OR. The boot ripped and allowed dirt to get on the shaft. Destroying the seal, causing the fluid loss.

seal failed and filled the boot. Boot went boom. It happened to my ford escort years ago no one could figure out where the power steering fluid was going until my boot blew and fluid was everywhere .Mac

Yeah it makes sense. The seal inside the shaft failed and went inside the boot. Boot overfilled, and I heard it pop actually after refilling the reservoir. It all makes sense. I was suspecting that it was a bad seal that went out, just wasn't sure where.

Anyway the car is at the dealer being inspected.

An Update on the warranty.
 

Ok so yesterday Nissan Corp. called me and told me they are not covering anything for my Z. They won't assist me in anything. Im all on my own. The reason is simply it's past its time, no matter how many miles are on the car. Simply no sympathy to what happened to a dedicated Nissan owner, really it's sad to hear this from Nissan corp. even though I understand the warranty issue. But what I went through is irrelevant to them.

So I ordered the power steering Rack and Pinion, and Nissan dealership will do the labor of putting it on. No warranty on the repair cause Im providing my own part, which I found a better price then what they wanted. Their quote was $1300+ for the rack and pinion, and mine was $550. So I'll just go with it.

I've never heard of a steering rack failing this early... 19K miles, that seems a little ridiculous. Of course I can sort of understand with it being out of warranty but still, 5 year old car with 19K having a steering rack replaced?

I feel like this has to be the exception and not the rule. Sucks it happened to you, man. :shakes head:

Yes that's exactly what I feel like! :shakes head: