The bomb..And not in modern terms :(

[Helge Wunderlich]

On Mon, 25 Mar 2002 23:58:21 -0800 (PST), Matt S. wrote:

>So, I was driving down the street when *bam* my
>steering goes hard and brakes go hard.
>Whee! Lost my power steering and brakes.
>I'm going to figure that this is the bomb.

If the brakes went hard immediately (not after several brakings), the
bomb is bad, but there is more wrong.

The bomb does not have anything at all to do with the steering. In
fact, the brake and steering are entirely separate hydraulic systems
sharing a reservoir. The pump is actually two separate pumps driven by
the same shaft.

It sounds like a bad belt or a dry reservoir. There should be a
blinking indicator in the dash if the fluid level in the reservoir
gets low, which leaves only the belt as a probable cause.