Hi All,
Several days ago the steering on my wagon started getting "sticky" and hard at points. I checked the fluid level last night and it was almost empty so I bought a bottle and filled it up. I only took it on a short spin around the block afterward but the steering didn't seem to improve. Does it take awhile for the fluid to get thru the lines it needs to go through or could there possible be another reason for the sticky,hard (sporadic) steering.

Unrelated question but I thought I'd toss this in. My wagon has 180,000 miles on it and I replaced the timing belt at 120,000. Is this wagon the type of car that will do significant damage to the engine if the timing belt breaks or is the the sort of car in which you can simply still just replace the belt and no other damage has been done? Can a mechanic actually determine if this belt needs to/is ready to be replaced or does one just need to replace it based on manufacturers suggested intervals?



Thanks so much,
Vance