My daughter's '89 140,000 mile 240 Wagon's power steering suddenly failed as she was turning into her driveway. She said it wasn't raining (ruling out a wet, slippery belt). She lives a couple of states over. I'd of course love to help her if I could.

The car has been well maintained. About 10,000 miles ago the local shop "flushed" the power steering fluid at my request just because the steering felt stiffer than I thought it should be. Prior to that, the universal was soaked with oil over a period of days. I thought that the u joint might be her problem.

Well, all of the above didn't really change anything, but it didn't get any worse. She never checked her front wheel alignment, but I don't think there was any outward sign (such as excessive wear to the front tires) of any problem.

She checked the fluid level, which she said was ok. I read a recent thread about the ps pumps, and it sounds like the pump itself is an unlikely culprit. She said the belt was intact.That leaves either the ujoint or the rack. She will get it checked right away. In the meantime....

The thing that bothers me is the sudden failure. Is that what racks do? There is no leaking, I'll bet the boots are intact, and the level is fine.

I happen to have a rebuilt rack (with 3 high miles 240's in the family, it's not a bad thing to have) here which I could ship out, but I'd rather make sure that the rack is the problem.

Any comments/suggestions would be most welcome! I know it is difficult to do: diagnosing at a distance. But hey.. it's my daughter here and this backyard Bricker is just trying to help.

Larry