1995 Ford Probe Steering Problems

“To whom it may concern: my 1995 Ford Probe has had a number of problems including one of the most recent - having to rebuild the transmission's have now owned the car for 20,000 miles or 3 1/2 years and have spent over four and a half thousand dollars on pre-mature problems. The amount does not include general services. The car has now reached 87,000 miles. One does not expect a car with so little mileage to have so many problems. If I was able to afford a new car I would send my Ford Probe to the scrap yard, I would not want a stranger to suffer car problems as I have. …”

“Note: I reported this once already about 2-3 years ago...a search of the database indicates several people have also reported this problem, but there hasn't been an inquiry yet- why not?? Based on my research, the problem seems to be a faulty Ford variable-assist power steering pump- at high rpms, it makes steering more stiff.. It fails to loosen when slowing down (e.g. Coming off an exit after traveling at highway speeds). Searching the web finds many other people who have experienced this. People have said it is fixed by replacing the steering pump, but this is a $600 part!”

“The car stalls every day at least twice. I proceed to a complete stop, the RPM's drop to zero and the car stalls. When the heat or AC is being used the RPM's are boosted up to 1000 and the problem is temporarily fixed.”

“Power steering fails when rpms are greater than 3500 for more than five minutes. Remains inoperative until 10-20 seconds when idle engine speed is encontered, at which time it works well until next 3500 rpms for more than 5 minutes is reached.”

“The steering wheel locks up for about 2-3 second on random occasions during normal and highway speeds. During parking lot manuvers, the steering feels heavy .”