My aircon just visciously assaulted my power steering...

[NicF]

So 'er indoors took the mazda out for a drive a couple of days ago, and when she got back she said there was a leaf caught in the heater fan making a noise when the fan was on. Not really a high priority fix I thought, until I tried to take the car to work today. Turned out the noise had been the aircon clutch disintegrating and beating the snot out of a power steering hose.

I've only had a chance for a quick look, but the front of the ac pulley is hanging loose, and the hose has a hole you could put your thumb in to.

So my question is, how far can I drive it with no fluid in the pump? Just down the road, or will it be ok for a while? It feels like the AC clutch is disengaged, but should I unplug the electrics to the compressor to be sure? The A/C will be coming out some time in the future anyway, when the turbo goes in.

For the life of me, i don't know how Mary drove the thing with no P/S - she must be 50kg dripping wet but she said she didn't even notice the steering was heavy!

[WideOpenThrottle]

I would be taking the belt off the power steer pump to be safe then it will be manual steer until you can sort it without potential damage to the pump!

[NicF]

So its only AC and PS on that belt? That's an easy fix!

In my defence I only glanced under the bonnet because I was late anyway.

[WideOpenThrottle]

Yup!