Power Steering Light Came On...

[JappyBeast]

Jumped into my MR2 this morning to goto work and the P/S light came on and stayed on... Been driving like it all day and its hard work!! I will have massive arms by the end of the week at this rate.

Anyway, I managed to locate the Power Steering Fluid bottle and the little 'dip stick' was dry.

Does anyone know how to fill it up? There are 2 markers saying 'hot' and 'cold'.. I have no clue what this means. It also says to only use Toyota fluid but I dont think I'm gonna.

I'm hoping it is just the lack of fluid causing the failure and nothing more.

Any pointers?

[Dame]

It's more than likely that it is the lack of fluid causing the problem. However, if the system is dry, you may have a leak somewhere.

The hot and cold levels mean just that. The fluid (like most oils - probably all, but there's bound to be an obscure exception :) ) expands when it gets hot i.e. when the steering is being used, therefore the fluid level will rise to the hot level.

Basically fill it to the cold level when the car is cold and you should be fine. To fill it, if it is anything like the power steering on my Range Rover, simply tip the fluid into the reservoir. You may need to bleed the system, which is done by turining the steering to extreme left and right lock a few times. Not sure exactly which fluid to use, I would say standard powersteering fluid, can't remember the exact name off hand, but being a Toyota, the fluid could be different to the standard available..... Best to seek advice from the forums, you know what Toyota will say......

[KiwiMR2]

Probably the fluid BUT.......Hehehehe.....also try turning the key on and off like 10 times quickly WITHOUT starting the car, see if that works ;)

Cheers

KiwiMR2

[Nippon]

Probably the fluid BUT.......Hehehehe.....also try turning the key on and off like 10 times quickly WITHOUT starting the car, see if that works ;)

Cheers

KiwiMR2

Mine does this all the time, and it's always the PAS relay, the ignition trick always does the job......

[Dame]

Agreed, but the fluid is very low, which can often either stop the assistance working completely, or render it significantly reduced in power.

[JappyBeast]

Erm... its working today.... still have to top up the liquid.

It felt strange getting it back again after all the heavy turning.

Thanks chaps.

[Jimlad]

Jappy... like others said, it sounds like the P/S relay switch is sticking.

They are known for sticking.. it happened to my motor once and I had big fat arms by the end of the day.

Simply turn the car on/off 20times fast ( not firing the car up tho )... after this the relay should be fine again.

[JappyBeast]

Jappy... like others said, it sounds like the P/S relay switch is sticking.

They are known for sticking.. it happened to my motor once and I had big fat arms by the end of the day.

Simply turn the car on/off 20times fast ( not firing the car up tho )... after this the relay should be fine again.

thanks for that you post !Removed!.