Wierd steering, PS pump or ball joints?

[90wag]

O.K. here's the background- About a month ago my power steering went away, not really noticeable above 10mph or so but it sure made parallel parking in front of my house a PITA! I checked the fluid and it was very low, barely touched the bottom of the dipstick cold. I found that the pressure hose was the leaking so I had it replaced. (C'mon, it was freezing out and I don't have a garage!) The leak was fixed but the problem continued. Last week I started noticing that the steering was "jerky" at low speeds and still practically nil while parking. Thats how it stands now. The pump does'nt groan or leak and the the steering seems fine over 15mph or so.
So does it sound like balljoints (take it to the shop$$$ )or pump(wait till it warms up and do it myself)
Thank you very much for any light you can shed on this, I don't know what I would do without this board.
Dave

[Stolen76]

Sounds like possibly a bad pressure relief valve. I'm not sure where they are located in these systems, but that would cause a hose to leak and eventually the pump to fail. It's most likley built into the pump, and the circumstances you are describing sound ilke pump failure.

[andy d]

when was the last time the front end was greased? grease made a difference for steering in my 88. next is weird, i was driving with out the front d/shaft and that eased the steering too. does the spinning front shaft act like some sorta gyro to keep the front end wanting to go straight?

[Bob Barry]

I'd suspect your pump is putting out insufficient pressure. I've got a similar situation, but mine is not that bad yet. Until the fluid circulates for about a minute, however, the steering sometimes feels like it's locking up due to the lack of power assist.

[90wag]

So feed the front end some grease and put in a new pump eh? Sounds good, thanks guys I'll keep you posted. Maybe some lurker out there has the same problem and wants to find out what it was. smile.gif
Dave

[Jerk]

on the off chance that it isn't steering, it maybe axle or tcase related...is your wag locked into 4wd? it will jerk when turning fairly sharply on dry(non-slippery) surfaces if locked into 4wd. just a thought.

[90wag]

I don't think it's t case related, it feels different than that. It's not in 4hi and the way the steering acts while trying to park is just like there was no power assist at all.
Dave

[Jerk]

yeah, probably not tcase then.thats good. as to power steering, don't have any experience except they changed em from 78 or 79 and up and I've really only had to replace hoses.

[90wag]

andy d...... You were right! I checked the front end and it was dry as a bone! I shot it some grease and it really helped out. I havent driven it enough yet to tell if it totally fixed it or not but it sure as heck made a difference. Thanks for the helpful post. I'm glad I checked it, even if I end up needing a pump anyway, it still needed grease really bad.
Dave