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weird steering problem all of a sudden

scrappyk5

scrappyk5

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Today my steering started acting stange. It was randomly getting harder to turn the wheel. I would be driving and it would get hard to turn back and forth as if I had manual steering. I mean kinda felt like I would have to force it left or right, then all of a sudden it would be fine, the power steering would be back. when I got home I sat in park and turned the wheel back and forth and all was ok. I check my power steering level and it was good. I did not see anything that coule be wrong.
I am thinking either the pump is going out or maybe the steering box ?

just an fyi, I do have a dana 60 with a 4" raised arm. I just put a new pro comp steering dampner on it about a week ago and have put about 400 miles on it , maybe its defective ?

Just some ideas please.
thx
 
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I would take the dampener off and drive it. If it still does it I would suspect the pump first. then the box. I can't think of anything else it could be.

Maybe power steering belt slipping?
 
U can also check the bolts on the steering box where it bolts to the frame...they have a tendency to loosen up and cause difficulties steering...
 
I know it's "apples and oranges" but, last fall the PS pump went up on my cummins and it acted the exact same way, would be hard to steer (almost like it was getting stuck) then would free itself and act fine. Replaced the pump, flushed the fluid and no problems any more.
 
Probably not the dampner. If it was the dampner or the box, you would probably get a whining sound from your pump because of the overload. Most likely the pump IMO. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
I'd say, belt, pump, steering box, maybe dampener, maybe kingpin or something else binding.

In about that order.

There is one other weird thing I have seen exactly once. Most all those pump pulleys are pressed on.

I saw one that was loose one time. It would slip, get hot, bind, cool off, slip, get hot.....rinse, lather repeat.

We had checked every thing we could think of, and I happened to be looking straight at the pulley when the shaft suddenly stopped turning.
Didn't even realize what I had seen at first.
 
I am starting to think the pump also. I am going to change the dampner since I have brand new stock one I have never used and the problem started shortly after I installed the new pro comp one I was given. If it still does it I will change out the pump, but check and make sure the pulley hasnt loosened up on the shaft.

Thanks all.
 
Could be something besides the pump itself,its unlikely the pump would "come back to life" so to say,if it were damaged or worn,and it would be whining most likely..

You could have had a restriction in the pressure hose,old hoses can sometimes have a peice of rubber liner separate in the inside and restrict fluid flow,or block the releif valve in the bung that the pressure hose screws into,which willl cause a lack of power assist..the rotary valve in the steering box can get blockage and cause temporary loss of power assist also...you might want to ensure all the tie rod ends are free and not seizing up,same with the ball joints,steering shaft rag joints,etc too..I have seen a few P/S pulleys slip on the shaft too,when the pump is under a heavy load,they dont have a keyway,just a press fit,and sometimes the pulley will just slip instead of turning the pump shaft,and you wont hear any squealing from the belt....
 
Check the axle shaft u-joints also, if they are binding they can cause stuff like this.
 
Check the axle shaft u-joints also, if they are binding they can cause stuff like this.
Click to expand...

Definetly do that. There was a thread here a few months ago that no one could solve that was a lot like yours.
Excetp that sometimes the truck just wanted to go straight no matter what if I remember right.
It may even have been 496Truck, the writer of the above's truck.

But it turned out that some of the u-joints in the axles had frozen.
Since they were slowly turning as he drove due to grease friction in the hubs, sometime when he went to turn, they had lined up so that the frozen ones would not let the axle bend.
 
Well I think the problem is solved. I did do a grease fitting fill-up prior to making this post, so if doing that and putting a 100 miles on the the truck solved it then that might have been the prob. I also took the new procomp dampner off and installed an oem dampner and the problem seems to be gone.
So we will see.
 
How cold has it been lately? I'm wondering if your ps fluid couldn't be gelling up. Never has it happen with ps fluid, but I used to have a 97 k2500 with a 6.5 that would loose oil pressure when I got off the throttle after highway driving when it was below zero. A few pieces of cardboard in front of the radiator fixed it right up. The oil was gelling in the cooler. Power steering fluid is much thicker than 15w40, so I'd imagine it's possible if you've had a cold snap. Just one more possibility to consider.
 
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