trailor

i've noticed that when braking, usually with a decent amount of force (not when just gradually braking), the steering wheel almost kinda locks to one side (i think the right, although i believe it switches on me..) very quickly. i am still able to control the car fortunately, but it is a very harsh jerk and if i didn't have a good grip on the wheel, i would probably nail the crap outta whatever is along side of me. any thoughts/comments/suggestions??

cliffyk

It sounds like you have either a brake system problem related to only one front wheel, or a power steering system hydraulic issue--the power brake boosters in our cars operate from the power steering system's hydraulic pressure.

Checking/flushing the p/s fluid would be the first thing I'd look at...

amoosenamedhank

I'm having a very similar issue... my steering is getting pretty difficult and my brakes (new cobra brakes) don't stop for ****. My pump is also whining pretty hard... I have a new pump in my shed, so I'm going to swap it out to see if it helps... As cliffy mention, might be your problem as well. I'll keep everyone updated.

trailor

ok i'll prolly do a flush of the ps tomorrow. just bought the car a week ago, so not too familiar on the history. ps fluid is right below the min line, so hopefully thats all it is. thanks for the quick reply

any kind of procedure for doin this flush, like for coolant, or is it just a drain/refill procedure?? haven't had to do one before

cliffyk

Here's the official procedure, however I sometimes on my personal vehicles I use a "little-bit-at-a-time" process for p/s fluid...

Suck the reservoir dry with a suction tool, re-fill it, and then over a span of 20 to 50 miles do this 5 to 10 times more. Do this immediately after driving a bit so that any solids will be in suspension.

The reservoir capacity is about 1/3rd of the total system capacity, so every time you do this you are diluting the old fluid with new fluid by a 2:1 ratio (what remains is 2 parts old and 1 part new)--after you have done this 8 times only 3.9% of the old fluid remains, do it 10 times and less than 1.8% of the old fluid remains.

This is a common practice in industrial hydraulic systems, on systems that cannot be shut down and/or have huge capacities, and can be applied to any recirculating oil system with acceptable results. Auto trannys that are a PITA to drain can be done in a similar manner, just don't spread the total process out over too long as it would be self-defeating (the oil would get worn/dirty as fast as you were changing it).

The early Miatas have a well-known issue with the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder lasting only 20k to 30k miles (it's fully exposed under the car and attracts crap like a crap magnet). FWIW, I applied this process to my '92, every 10k miles, and ran for over 105k on the same slave cylinder...

Jazzer The Cat

This sounds like a frozen caliper and can be quite dangerous.

Generally the car will pull to one side, until you hit the brakes. At this point, it will pull back to the opposite side and make the car hard to keep in a straight line. Next time this happens, pull over after a bit of a cruise and touch the brake rotor. Wet your finger first as it may be hot!

Jazzer