what happened to my power steering?

[pine52]

took 63hawk in for front alignment,now power steering gone

[Roscomacaw]

I think I'd have it back to that shop - PRONTO!

[SN-60]

I'd insist that they give it back!!!

[63 R2 Hawk]

Maybe they tried to take all the play out of the spool valve by tightening it. That adjustment is very tricky (ask me how I know) and can result in loss of ps if not done properly.

[pine52]

they have it now.checking pump pressure

[pine52]

powersteering

someone mentioned spoolvalve.if that is part of the ps pump,why would it have anything to do w/front end alignment?

[63 R2 Hawk]

The spool valve is the control valve for the power steering. The end of the pitman arm actuates the control, or spool, valve and causes hydraulic fluid to flow to one side or the other of the steering ram. There is a nut/spring on the control valve to adjust how far the valve can displace when the pitman arm is moved. If the nut is tightened too much, the control valve won't move far enough to allow fluid to be directed to the steering ram. There is always some "play"necessary in the valve, but it's possible/likely an inexperienced alignment tech might think it needs to be tightened to remove the "play" and tighten up the steering.... I know this because I had it happened to me. I figured out how to adjust it myself and it's been fine ever since (four+ years now). I think the shop manual can show/explain it a lot better than i can.....

[63 R2 Hawk]

Curious. It's been 5-6 days since your ps quit working, did they figure it out yet? I'd like to know what they found.

[RadioRoy]

People always suggest taking it back to the shop so it can be fixed, with the assertion that they owe you to fix it right. That may be so, but does anyone ever consider that if they FUBARed it in the first place then maybe they don't have the expertise/talent/smarts to fix it? What if they are so incompetent that they make it worse?

That's what goes through my twisted mind.

[63 R2 Hawk]

I think you're exactly right. When I fix something on my Studebaker I may not always get it right the first time but at least I know who screwed it up.....and how....

[pine52]

Thanks for the input.Haven't heard back from the shop yet, but will pass along your insight.