Got a call from flagstaff, AZ. My dad was driving
toward the east coast in the STX. The peugeot
dealer on Lincoln blvd in Santa Monica had went
thru a complete inspection of the car after the
ABS brake problem. Some electrical problems were
discovered but eventually the alternator died,
a few days after the inspection where everything
had been fixed. supposedly. My dad went to pep
boys and you know that story. As he got to
flagstaff today, he felt the steering heavy.
Stopped and a mechanic looked at the car.
Power steering was empty. Note that a hose
had been changed by the peugeot dealer and
the system had been checked for any leak...
What happened? The mechanic says either a
seal, or the rack itself...
He removed the belt from the pump to not
fry it so my dad will drive to Albuquerque
where a better equipped mechanic will have
a look at it. He wanted to stop there
anyway...
So my question: can he drive very long
without fluid, with the pump disconnected?
Could it be simply a seal? Well, simply
is a big word, it is probably a major job...
Or is it the rack? How much $ are we talking
about, and mostly what's the availability?
Is that another ZF component?
Any good mechanic around that area?
Ciao,
Francois Dion (francois@hyperreal.org)