A brief explaination:

My car came equipped with variable assist power steering, much like the SSE'* and SSI'* of the era. What this means is that the power steering will assist on one of 4 levels, ranging from 'Gramma can 1-finger it in the parking lot' to 'you really have to mean it if you want to turn on the highway'.

I have never had a problem with the system until 2 days ago, when I noticed the car was all over the place, and I felt like I was doing it. Long story short, the car is stuck in 'Gramma can 1-finger it in the parking lot' mode, no matter what speed I am going. Does anyone have any quick information on how the system works, or where I should start? I plan to pull out the FSM'* tonight to study up. Nothing else on the vehicle is affected that I have noticed so far.

looks like you are going to have to take it to someone with a tech 2 sadly. worst case is you have to replace the whole rack.

Variable-Assist Power Steering

Not quite. According to the article you posted, Magnasteer didn't start up until 1996. I am still stuck in 1993.

I did some reading. It turns out there is a solenoid that boosts the output from the power steering pump to the rack. This solenoid is controlled by the MultiFunction chime module (yes, the door dinger, lol), that gets a speed signal from the PCM. 17-20mph is the magic number. Below that, it energizes the solenoid, and makes for the nice easy steering that makes life in the parking lot easier.

The Electrical Systems FSM actually has 9 pages specifically addressing this system alone, and gives very detailed explanations and troubleshooting information. FSM FTW!!!

On a related and completely annoying note, it was working fine today. Go figure...

for some reason i thought you had a 96. wish my car was that "easy". i would love to make the steering tighten up at about 35-40 instead of the 70-75 as that article pointed out. im not about to pay a dealer to play with it though.

Hi

The '93 variable assist steering used an electronic variable orifice (EVO) valve to control the pressure drop across the hydraulic system.

I haven't found just the EVO valve by itself, but you can get a remanufactured pump that includes a new EVO valve.

A-1 CARDONE Part # 2042832V1