My 164 now has 285,000 miles on it. The power steering has been doing a good
job with a couple exceptions since I have had the car (33 years).
The first exception was that for a couple years I had recurrent fatigue cracks
on the AC compressor bracket and so I removed the belt which disabled the
power steering. It was very little stiffer at that time than a car without
power steering.
The second exception was a few months ago when the return hose finally wore
through and leaked the fluid down to where the pump would not provide enough
pressure to work the system. I finally cut the hose and put a piece of metal
tube inside it and refixed it with a couple hose clamps. Since it was the
return hose it was not considered to be any pressure problem. Once I filled
it with fluid it worked fine, about 5 or 6 months ago.

Now the steering is becoming stiff. The pump is still working and circulating
fluid, but sometimes the steering is pretty stiff. Also sometimes we get a
whine from the pump while steering. Anyone experienced this with an early
power steering system? Could it just be the pump is worn and not putting up
enough pressure? The pump is original and probably has all the car's mileage
except maybe 25,000 miles. Never given any problem up to now!
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!