I just finished replacing my blower motor for the SECOND time. Was lucky enough to get one made in Mexico, a Siemens replacement motor that only lasted 4 years.

So after that big job with 275,000 miles on my 240 (original owner) I guess I will keep her awhile longer. My other problem is my power steering. The car has original steering rack and power steering pump. It is acts like I do not have power steering at low speed turning sharply and there are no noises. It is especially tough to turn when just starting out when the car/engine is cold and the colder the temperature it is worse. Once the car is under way and the engine warms up the power steering runs normal.

I have replaced the fluid using the suction method and it helped a little but not much. So do you think the power steering pump needs to be replaced? If not what else could be the problem?
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1989 240, 1992 745

Hi. I just suffered the same symptoms on my '84: stiff steering (intermittant power assist, none in the first cold of the morning, getting better as things warm up) with the onset of cold weather (here in the northeast). My final solution, however, might be your solution as well.

First, I flushed out the fluid and replaced it with AmsOil synthetic ATF (ATF is what is called for in the '84's owners manual), and I had it on hand because I used AmsOil in my tranny. But although the original fluid was brown, the new cherry red fluid didn't help.

[This doesn't apply to you, but read anyway] Then I figured the belt was slipping -- and there are two belts involved -- the crank-to-A/C belt, and the A/C-to-P/S belt. So I got the IPD conversion kit to bypass the first belt (my 25-yr old A/C doesn't work anymore, anyway) and now have a single belt running directly from the crank pulley to the P/S pump. That didn't help much, either. [and the kit can't be installed on '85-on cars, anyway].

But the next, last step fixed it! The belts, both before and after the aforementioned conversion, felt tight, but I know that feeling the belt when still isn't necessarily the same tension when running because the accessory bushings (still original and 25 years old) could be flexing -- and thus allowing the belt to slip, albeit it quietly -- under load. So I changed the four bushings (in the '84 -- I don't know how many bushings are in your '89) with IPD's blue, polyurethane bushings. I've put this type in my other cars, for the alternator, for example, and I like their extra rigidity and long life (resistant to oil, too). Anyway, it took just a couple of hours*, and the power steering works fine now. All fixed.

Hope this suggestion, changing the bushings, work for you, too. It's cheaper and easier than getting a replacement steering rack or pump.

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* Here's a suggestion for installing the poly bushings. While the old rubber bushings came out easily (showing how soft they had become), it's hard to get the new poly's in. So I got a short bolt (1/4 inch diameter), with washers wider than the inner diameter of the metal loops the bushings slide into, and turned the nut-bolt to pull the bushings into the loops. It's slow (which is why the whole job took a couple of hours) but really easy this way.

Good luck.

Thanks for the info. I have seen those bushings in the IPD newsletters and have considered them in the past. But upon visual inspection my bushings looked fine. So they may not be fine after all and that would be a goood thing to do anyway since they are orignal and are probably worn.
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1989 240, 1992 745

Hi there,

You don't mention the U-joints. I'd jack up the front (both wheels) and run it lock to lock with and with the motor running, just to be absolutely certain it is not dried up U-joint bearings before getting into the hydraulics.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.

I will take a look at the bearing. Does it have a zerk fitting to add grease or is it sealed and must be replaced?
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1989 240, 1992 745

Sealed.

Very expensive new.

Difficult to remove from a junkyard car.

Hope that isn't the problem.
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jds