Power steering died when I was on the Freeway

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by ScoobsMcGee

I can't believe my friends and I never thought of this! Clearly a missed opportunity in youth, although that was a bit more than 4 years ago...

It ended up not being worth it we put them on the back tires of a manual tsx from 06ish and it ended up flat spotting the tires because we got a little to excited and it melted straight through the trays we ended up all booking it out of the school parking lot after a lookout we had ran down and told us the school called the cops. The kid ended up making up some elaborate lie that he left the ebrake on and it flat spotted him and the mechanic pulled him aside and said he knew what he had done

[ScoobsMcGee]

Originally Posted by FRSBRZGT86FAN

It ended up not being worth it we put them on the back tires of a manual tsx from 06ish and it ended up flat spotting the tires because we got a little to excited and it melted straight through the trays we ended up all booking it out of the school parking lot after a lookout we had ran down and told us the school called the cops. The kid ended up making up some elaborate lie that he left the ebrake on and it flat spotted him and the mechanic pulled him aside and said he knew what he had done

Back in my day the cafeteria trays were made of metal -- and you used to have to wrestle your peanut butter flavored sticky cube thingy from a live bear.

[Andrew025]

Originally Posted by ScoobsMcGee

-- and you used to have to wrestle your peanut butter flavored sticky cube thingy from a live bear.

The lunch lady?

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by ScoobsMcGee

Back in my day the cafeteria trays were made of metal -- and you used to have to wrestle your peanut butter flavored sticky cube thingy from a live bear.

Lol ours have always been plastic all the way from elementary school up till I graduated. Plan B was to double up the lunch trays and steal 4 instead of two but we never got to it before we graduated....

[woode]

Different steering system, but I had a similar issue several years back when I had a Mazda 3.
I was driving down the freeway and as I was about to exit an off-ramp my power steering went out. However, it wasn't as if I was driving the car without power steering - it was much more difficult. It took all my strength just to get the car to turn enough to not slam into the guard rails in the turn, ended up coming to a stop as I wouldn't have actually made it all the way through the turn. Had the issue arose seconds later while I was already on the off-ramp I probably would've wrecked. Turned the car off and back on and all was fine. A week later I got a TSB letter in the mail from Mazda regarding the issue

[Sarlacc]

Originally Posted by woode

... power steering went out. However, it wasn't as if I was driving the car without power steering - it was much more difficult. It took all my strength just to get the car to turn enough to not slam into the guard rails in the turn...

Sounds terrifying.

I can think of one scenario that sort of fits the description.
IF the power steering is based on a stepper motor, and the motor is still under power but not receiving commands to rotate, the steering wheel would be extremely hard to move, since the driver would have to fight the stepper motor.

I'm not saying this is the case. I rather hope it's not, because it would seem to be a very stupid way to design power steering.

Anyone got any input on how electric power steering works in general, and on our cars in particular?

[themadscientist]

You'll need a tray.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S_orLxj850"]You Will Need A Tray. - YouTube[/ame]

[themadscientist]

Almost all of my cars wind up being manual steering and it's not that hard. Then again, none of them were electric. Moving PS fluid back and forth through a hose from one side of the rack to the other is bound to be a heck of a lot easier than turning against a dead electric motor.

[Zozr]

Your arms must be made of rubber if you can't steer a car without power steering

[Andrew025]

Originally Posted by Zozr

Your arms must be made of rubber if you can't steer a car without power steering

Found photo of OP

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Sarlacc

Sounds terrifying.

I can think of one scenario that sort of fits the description.
IF the power steering is based on a stepper motor, and the motor is still under power but not receiving commands to rotate, the steering wheel would be extremely hard to move, since the driver would have to fight the stepper motor.

I'm not saying this is the case. I rather hope it's not, because it would seem to be a very stupid way to design power steering.

Anyone got any input on how electric power steering works in general, and on our cars in particular?

Wow, you might be onto something. Seriously. I concur with your hypothesis. It is also in the realm of possibility there exists one or more failure modes that were not anticipated by the designers. Failsafe servo controls are actually quite a challenge to design. I wouldn't dare to call myself an expert but it was my bread & butter both as an intern and for several years after I graduated college.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by woode

Different steering system, but I had a similar issue several years back when I had a Mazda 3.
I was driving down the freeway and as I was about to exit an off-ramp my power steering went out. However, it wasn't as if I was driving the car without power steering - it was much more difficult. It took all my strength just to get the car to turn enough to not slam into the guard rails in the turn, ended up coming to a stop as I wouldn't have actually made it all the way through the turn. Had the issue arose seconds later while I was already on the off-ramp I probably would've wrecked. Turned the car off and back on and all was fine. A week later I got a TSB letter in the mail from Mazda regarding the issue

But this looks like just another issue of power steering loss, not lockup. Are you sure it wasn't just because you were surprised by it? I could see it being pretty frightening if you had never experienced P/S loss.

[woode]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

But this looks like just another issue of power steering loss, not lockup. Are you sure it wasn't just because you were surprised by it? I could see it being pretty frightening if you had never experienced P/S loss.

Yes, I am positive in my case. I literally could not turn the steering wheel more than a few inches using all my strength. When the car is moving it is generally easier to turn without power steering at all.

[chubky]

I had power steering die on me once, I was driving a Toyota Highlander though. It sounds like your steering may have locked up instead of losing power steering. It really shouldn't be too hard if the car is in motion. The slower the car is moving, the tougher the steer would be w/o power steering.

Mine died on me while i was doing a U turn at a stop light, in a turn I planned on doing a 3 point turn already. It was a scary experience, glad nothing harmful happened