Five problems related to power steering pump have been reported for the 1997 Chevrolet Astro. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I own a 1997 chev Astro van with 151k miles. Sunday, the power steering pump went out. When it did so, the brakes turned mushy with little braking power. We were lucky as we had just come down a steep driveway. If they had failed then our choices would have been to run into the back of a car if we could have turned, run into a group of people and then continued down a steep hill into brush and forest with likely casualties. Luckily, we had just started up to leave and noticed the problem. We shut down and the local chev dealership was able to obtain a part. However, the service writer told us that to this day, many chev vans and trucks have the same system where the power steering pump acts as a booster pump for the braking system. That lack of independence between the two systems is an engineering error and should be corrected.
Power steering pump shaft breaks without any indication that a malfunction has occurred which results in loss of power steering and brake control.
Vehicle would not steer, and brakes would not work. Towed to dealer, and stated the power steering pump, that controls the hydraulic boost for the brakes failed which led to the problem. Repairwork done with a replacement pump, which was identical to the original pump. Provide further information.
When driving vehicle the shaft on the power steering pump broke. Vehicle had no steering control / power brakes. The shaft went into the power steering pump. There was no warning. Took vehicle to dealer & informed by mechanic that a weakness had occurred in the shaft.
Power steering pump failed twice.