Printable View
Power steering
Post by airborne on Aug 17, 2006, 4:24pm
Anyone know about power steering? It won't turn, just jerks the wheel like it's locked up. Hoses hooked up backwards? Bad pump? It turns easy with no weight on the tires, but when I put it on the ground, it fights being turned. ????????????????
Re: Power steering
Post by twodogs on Aug 17, 2006, 4:38pm
Air in lines? Is the fluid all frothy? Lift it back up. Cycle it lock to lock several times. Check level/condition of fluid.
Re: Power steering
Post by mikel on Aug 17, 2006, 8:38pm
Loose belt?
Re: Power steering
Post by barrman on Aug 18, 2006, 8:19am
Do the above to check for air and to bleed any air. With the engine running and the cap off the pump, you should be able to see fluid move inside the pump tank when the wheel is turned. If you are not seeing movement, check your hoses for restrictions. (I am pretty sure all Saginaw boxes had the two lines with different sized fittings so hooking them up backwards would be real hard to do.) If the hoses look ok, and you see movement in the tank, then figuring out a way to check the pressure is the next step.
It is almost not worth the cost of getting the equipement to check the psi since just about every car made for 30 years had one of these pumps on it. I would recommend offering a local junk yard $10.00 for a pump and swapping it out.
Re: Power steering
Post by airborne on Aug 18, 2006, 9:19am
Thanks guys, I'll do the checks.
Re: Power steering
Post by hummer103 on Aug 20, 2006, 10:15am
I recently got my 350 Conversion Jeep going with a FSJ box and GM pump and its great, one finger turning, but it leaks all the time running and just sitting. Is there a seal right where the Pitman arm slides onto the splined output shafts of the steering box? Id look myself but I had an emergency and had to weld a washer over the tie rod end on the other end of the pitman arm. Hence real hassle to get off.
Thanks,
Scott
Re: Power steering
Post by compexp on Aug 20, 2006, 10:48am
I'm sure there's a seal on the splined output shaft, but not one between the shaft and the pitman arm.
You're going to need to pull the box. sorry.
Re: Power steering
Post by luckypabst on Aug 20, 2006, 2:33pm
nah, just pull the pitman arm, remove the snap ring, start the engine and the seal should blow out from the system pressure. Put a bucket under the sector shaft area first, though.
Chris
Re: Power steering
Post by barrman on Aug 21, 2006, 8:09am
I did the exact thing Chris mentioned in the above post Friday night to my ps box. I then pulled the box and replaced the input shaft seal and the rag joint. Drives like a sports car now. A worn rag joint really adds slop to the steering.
By the way, I bled mine by picking up the front end. Adding fluid, turning the wheels lock to lock 5 times. Adding fluid. Starting it up. Turning lock to lock 5 more times. I have power steering, but not all that good compared to last week. I ran out of ps fluid before I started the engine and since the parts stores in my town were closed for the weekend, added ATF. I now have the truck in my class where my students are going to bleed out the ATF and put ps fluid back in. ATF works, but not as good.