--- TRACY <imperial@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Hi Tracy. Here is what I read: 1. Your power steering failed - the fluid leaked out 2. Brakes are funky and stiff 3. Car has 18,000 Miles on it. 4. Your mechanic gave you incomplete or bad advice. Here is what I think: 1. The power steering system does not directly affect other ones, so the brake problem is likely coincidental. There are several parts: A. The pump, a cylindrical part that has a wheel in front driven by a belt. It is hung on the driver's side of the front of the engine at about 9 o'clock as you look at the car from the front. There is a cap that you can unscrew off to check the fluid level. B. There are two hoses that are called "pressure" and "return". The pressure one has metal tubing for part of the way and comes off with a wrench on each end. C. Then there is the steering box, which both hoses feed from the pump. It is low and under the engine on the DS. Steering boxes rarely fail and this is unlikely to be a source of the problem. When the car is cold, feel the hoses and inspect them for tears or breaks. This is the most likely problem, and you should replace these regardless unless they have been done in the last 10 years that you know of. If replacing these doesn't solve the problem, the problem is likely in the pump. Pumps are usually under $100 and not all that hard to put in, so should not take a qualified shop more than 2 hours to do. Probably less. Do both hoses first and refill with Power Steering Fluid. That'll likely fix your problem. 2. Your brakes don't have anything to do with your power steering, unless the fluid somehow mysteriously soaked into the brake on the DS of the car, which is unlikely. If they are stiff, it is likely that your brake booster isn't working. This could be due to a failed hose connecting the booster to the engine. The suction (vacuum) of the engine is used to operate the booster, and to give your brakes the feel that they used to have. If the hose or seals in the booster break, the booster stops working. On the Drivers-side of the engine, against the back wall of the engine compartment, you'll see a large cylinder mounted up high that is roughly in line with the steering wheel. There is a black hose that goes from this to the engine. If it were broken, that would account for your stiff brakes. If not, the cylinder, called the brake booster, is likely bad and needs replacement/rebuilding. Since the engine sucks when running, any tear or break in the system will generate a hiss where it is drawing in air. Find the leak and you know what to fix on that. 3. If your car has 18,000 miles or 180,000 miles, and the soft parts are all original, the rubber is likely rotten and in dire need of replacement to make the car safe and dependable. Going forward, if you know that there's a problem, you should certainly fix it BEFORE you go driving it! That PS fluid could have been a source of fire (happened to me) and the brakes should not be driven on if compromised. PLEASE STOP and get attention to the car before driving it should problems come up in the future - your safety is counting on it. Every old car that I get gets the following to avoid having a problem when I'm driving it around: Upper & lower radiator hoses/fluid Power steering hoses/fluid Fan Belts Thermostat air filter Oil filter/oil rear-end oil transmission fluid/filter transmission output shaft seal (for 1959-75 Imperials) Radiator cap Heater hoses Fuel line (all from frame)/fuel filter. Thorough brake check - replace 3 soft flex lines (2 Front, 1 Rear) as soon as any work is needed. Check tightness of steering box - tighten as needed. See archives for this. Why these? They do not age well. Especially if left unused for long periods of time. These are the things that will likely fail, they're comparatively cheap to redo, and will all stand to take out much more expensive components if they do fail. I encourage you to take this list and have them done if you plan to drive the car. The brake booster vacuum advance hose may also be bad, but isn't such a usual part that is needed. 4. "Bad o-rings"? Anyone else that works on cars where you live? That sounds like bad advice to me, but it may be out of context and part of other info that he gave? If you look at the club website and see the MAILING LIST area, there is the IMPERIAL HIGHWAY. There you'll find others that have offered to meet you, and you can find someone local to you. You may do well to get a hand from someone in person who can take a look at what's going on. If you're just starting to learn about your car, the in-person advice that you'd get from a fellow owner that has some experience may go far for you. Good luck. I think that you'll do best to find someone that isn't charging by the hour to give you advice about what's going on, and possibly who you can trust to perform work on your car. Kenyon Wills ____________________________________________________________________________________ Any questions? Get answers on any topic at www.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now. ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm