David,

I'm hoping for Popeye forearms myself!  That's the question I seem to
be having trouble answering- if the rack can be driven with, after
leaking, without causing steering problems- I've hauled around in a few
vehicles with pump unbelted without any problem...  thanks for the
input!  Cheers,
Mike

--- "David J. Bohannan" <david.bohannan@VERIZON.NET> wrote:

> In my much poorer and less technically savvy days...
>
> I once drove a 78 Mercury Zephyr (aka Ford Fairmont) in that
> condition...I had a bad leak and eventually the power steering
> accessory
> locked up completely shredding the belt off during driving...
>
> I drove it for the better part of a year or more without "lubricant".
> I
> think I may have dumped more power steering fluid in there thinking
> it
> might get into the rack...some probably did, but I don't know how
> that
> would/would not work on such a long run on the vanagon....
>
> I developed quite a muscle in my arm from driving that
> way...........................unpowered power steering really
> stinks!!!
>
> Dave
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf
> Of Michael Rule
> Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 8:57 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: driving an unbelted, leaking power-steering rack
>
> Hi,
> After an archive search, I've found differing opinions on whether it
> is
> safe to continue to drive with my badly leaking power-steering rack
> after removing the belt.  Even without the belt on, a lot of fluid is
> still leaking out, so I am guessing it will continue to drain until
> near
> dry.  Has anyone experienced hazards from driving with a "dry"
> power-steering rack?  Thank you for any thoughts.
> Mike
> 84-take-my-van-please-Westy
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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