Is it normal for the steering to prevent sharp turns in low traction
situations? Some years ago I recall driving into a gas station while
it was raining, it was one of those tiled stations, made a sudden turn
and bam!..It was like the tires hit a brick wall....Steering wheel
would not move until I reduced the rate of the turn....Sort of like
when you pull the seat belt too quickly. Is this some form of traction
control at work or a fault with the car? I surmised if this was normal
then raising the front off the ground while the car was powered (and
stationary) could simulate the effect but never got around to trying
it. And yes, my tires were probably well worn at the time.

On May 11, 6:48 am, oparr <o... (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:

I've never heard of it, but that probably doesn't mean much... ;-D

What year Camry? How many miles? Changed the power steering fluid
regularly?

Michael

On May 11, 5:05 pm, mrdarr... (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
1997, 140000, never changed only topped up. The incident in question
occurred at around 100,000 miles.
After doing some further reading, I'm now leaning to a slipping belt.
Also, after doing some invoice checks, the timing belt along with all
belts and water pump were changed at 72,000 miles. Belt squeals a lot
sometimes even now when making stationary full locks. When wet it
probably slips more and the feeling of lockup may be due to a
momentary complete loss of power assist when other conditions favor it
(example a sharp turn of the steering wheel).

On May 12, 7:01 am, oparr <o... (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Where did you have the timing belt done?

On May 12, 12:53 pm, mrdarr... (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
The Toyota dealer.

"oparr" <oparr (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

You've got it in one there. A temporary belt slippage will give you the
sudden loss of power-assist. Good deduction.

Jason

We keep hearing about all the drop outs working at dealerships. That's
too bad.


On May 13, 4:19 am, oparr <o... (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Toyota wouldn't spend a few dollars for an automatic belt tensioner
for the drive belts. And the dealer tech probably didn't even
retension the belts before returning the car to you like they are
supposed to. Shame on them. Can you tell us who made the belts by the
name on the belts (Toyota buys from the lowest bidder)? Thanks.

Get new Gates belts and I'd recommend a Gates Krik-it II Micro-V-belt
tension gauge. Special order from your local NAPA store for about $20.
The traditional deflection method is just not reliable.
http://www.gates.com/europe/brochure...cation_id=5173

I use Gates belts and hoses. No problems here. rockauto.com has good
prices on these.
www.gates.com



On May 12, 7:01 am, oparr <o... (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote: