Steering kinda tight

[AmTeC]

The steering in my cb7 seems tight, not super tight, you can still steer one handed with relative ease, its very smooth and has no play, This is my first cb7 and cars like my 2002 si civic have lighter steering. Is the steering supposed to be a little tight? Also what color is the power steering fluid supposed to be? Mine is a golden color, does it need changing? This car has been maintained well by the previous owners so I assume the p/s fluid is up to date, can never be too sure though.

[Fleetw00d]

By "tight", do you mean it takes more effort than you expect it to? At low speed, high speed, or all speeds?

Out of the bottle, Honda power steering fluid is more of a light gold color (if memory serves me correctly). How many miles on your car? Chances are it may never have been changed. I haven't come up with a good way to change out most of the fluid in the system other than when I've had to change the rack and/or power steering pump. There isn't a good way to catch the fluid and not make a mess when pulling lines off.

[AmTeC]

By "tight", do you mean it takes more effort than you expect it to? At low speed, high speed, or all speeds?

Out of the bottle, Honda power steering fluid is more of a light gold color (if memory serves me correctly). How many miles on your car? Chances are it may never have been changed. I haven't come up with a good way to change out most of the fluid in the system other than when I've had to change the rack and/or power steering pump. There isn't a good way to catch the fluid and not make a mess when pulling lines off.

Yeah it takes a bit more effort than in most other cars, nothing too significant, still easy to turn, at speed its pretty light, but again, less than most other cars. Its got 113000 miles, It had 110600 when I got it. And if its that difficult to remove the old fluid, how would I go about maintaining the p/s system when the time comes? I was told that the occasional replacement of P/S fluid will prevent the old burnt dirty fluid from wearing out seals and pinions in the rack

[Fleetw00d]

It is not so much that it is difficult to drain the fluid, just difficult to do without making a mess. To drain the reservoir, have a section of tubing that will fit inside (or over) the end of the supply hose, pinch off the supply line to the pump, disconnect it from the pump (I use an old rag under this joint to catch was drains from the pump), stick the section of tubing into (or over) the end of the supply line and route it to a drain pan, then unpinch the line to let the reservoir drain. You can also put a drain pan under the rack and disconnect the four lines there to let the rest of the system drain. Make sure have flare nut wrenches for the lines at the rack to prevent rounding them off. When finished draining, tighten the lines, install the supply hose, fill the reservoir, start the car, cycle the steering lock to lock a few times, then check the level - you'll probably have to add some more. It make be somewhat foamy for a little while so keep checking it the first few times you drive it.

[Granite CB7]

^I'll first jack up the nose of the car so the tires are off the ground. Then I'll put the return hose (unconnected @ reservoir) into a good size bottle, then start the engine and turn the wheel lock to lock. The pump will evacuate the fluid and you can repeat this as many times as you want. There's some good vids on youtube (eric the car guy) and I believe this is what the Helms manual suggests, but I'd have to check on that!

[Fleetw00d]

I think the return line enters below the fluid level in the reservoir, so you have a similar mess issue when first disconnecting that line.

I'll be changing the fluid by default in Ruby (90 LX) when I install a new rack and rebuilt pump.

[Granite CB7]

^my previous post was rather vague, my apologies. I did check the Helm manual and that is what Honda suggests for fluid replacement. On the reservoir, the fitting/nipple/port aiming directly @ the side motor mount + camshaft is the return hose. Fluid comes from the p/s cooler and dumps back into the reservoir via this return hose. Honda tells you to insert the end of the return hose into a suitable container (I use a clear 2 liter bottle, you can see the hose end thru the bottle) and the pump will pump it all out for you. Yeah, the fluid level is above the return port so I always place a small shallow dish under the p/s pump feed/metal 90* elbow and drain some fluid out first. Once the fluid level is below the return port, then I can undo that connection w/o spilling anything. I like to drain/refill/bleed air out of the system with the tires off the ground, I've always felt it's less strain/resistance on the pump/rack/etc esp when going lock to lock repeatedly. I always try to shut the engine off immediately after fluid stops coming out of the hose end and I prefer to do this when the engine is warm (no fast idle, process is much slower, you have more time to do all procedures if you are alone doing this), but that's just me!

[AmTeC]

^I'll first jack up the nose of the car so the tires are off the ground. Then I'll put the return hose (unconnected @ reservoir) into a good size bottle, then start the engine and turn the wheel lock to lock. The pump will evacuate the fluid and you can repeat this as many times as you want. There's some good vids on youtube (eric the car guy) and I believe this is what the Helms manual suggests, but I'd have to check on that!

wouldn't that cause excessive wear to run the pump dry? Even if it is just for a second? I was told P/S pumps are real sensitive little things and do not tolerate air in the system well

[Fleetw00d]

wouldn't that cause excessive wear to run the pump dry? Even if it is just for a second? I was told P/S pumps are real sensitive little things and do not tolerate air in the system well

Even though air enters the system, the pump doesn't wind up running completely dry. It is still wet with fluid and there is relatively little load (although still side loaded from the belt) from trying to pump air. I think they're pretty robust. I think I'm still running the original pump hard parts on Ruby (353k) with a single rebuild during which I simply replaced all the seals. The only ones I've ever seen go "bad" are because they leak, not because the pump actually failed.

[AmTeC]

Even though air enters the system, the pump doesn't wind up running completely dry. It is still wet with fluid and there is relatively little load (although still side loaded from the belt) from trying to pump air. I think they're pretty robust. I think I'm still running the original pump hard parts on Ruby (353k) with a single rebuild during which I simply replaced all the seals. The only ones I've ever seen go "bad" are because they leak, not because the pump actually failed.

hmm, actually that makes alot of sense, theres always some residual oil left in the pump as long as its not run dry too long. How often should the P/S fluid be replaced?

[cb7 calling]

This was kinda mentioned but use Honda fluid. Lots of part stores have it now or from the dealer.

[AmTeC]

This was kinda mentioned but use Honda fluid. Lots of part stores have it now or from the dealer.

how often should the power steering system be flushed?

[Fleetw00d]

A local car guy on the radio recommends replacing all fluids at least every two years. I would bet there are a lot of CBs with original fluid until the pump or rack gets replaced.