Hello everyone, truck has 170K miles on it. Just this past weekend, I had to drive up a gravel drive way (250 to 400 feet long) which had some serious washed ruts, about 8" wide and 10" deep. I tried my best to avoid the actual rut, but the ride was still pretty rough and bumpy. When I left, I noticed I had no power steering assist at idle or even slightly above idle. Very noticeable at very, very low speeds. No issue or problem when driving down the road. I do not have assist to the right but does work to the left. I removed as much fluid out of the PS tank as I could with a suction device, fluid is black and horrible looking. I will perform a flush tonight, I think I will try using the pump to flush out the system versus sucking out the filler cap. I will use ATF+4 versus PS fluid.

Has anyone else had this issue? Is it the pump or simply the contamination in the pump system? Could the relief be sticking in the pump? Why only in one direction.

Regarding ball joints, I have 170K on them and I do not think they have been replaced. They are likely sloppy - I do not think they could be causing the problem.
If I drive down the road, the truck will track just fine - does not seem any alignment issues.

Any help would be appreciated.
Scott

 

Just guessing, it sounds like a sticking spool valve...Possibly due to that nasty looking fluid...A power flush may help and the ATF will have a detergent effect also...Good luck......Ben

 

Thanks for the reply.

I had a half of qt of PS fluid and 2 qts of ATF 4. I took a look underneath and figured the line closet to the left side of the truck from the cooler was the low pressure return line. Removed the line, started the truck and drained the fluild out. Truck only needs to run for about 10 seconds if that. Filled the tank back up 2 more times and wha la!, the steering is better. I will pick up several qts of synthetic ATF+4 tomorrow and do it again.

Thanks again for your response, I hope you are right. I do not want to buy a pump.

SAS

 

You shouldn't have to...The spool valve is in the steering gear (on some Chrysler products in the 60's-70's it was external) and they are prone to stick if they get dirty enough...All they do is direct pressure where needed...If the pump made enough pressure to provide assist one way, it's fine...I'd be more concerned about why the fluid got that contaminated......Ben

 

Same problem here, except turns right, not left and the brakes get hard randomly, like no power assist to them.
Only got 65k on a '07 and was planning on flushing PS fluid, brakes and coolant at next maint, but think I'll be doing the power steering tonight!
Hope it works.

 

Grit dog - funny you say that with the brakes, mine feel like I do not have power assist. Does anyone know if the PS & PB are connected? I did notice 2 hoses off of the PS that run up towards the firewall. To be honest, I did not look at where they go to.

Regarding the "flushing" of my PS system, my thoughts are to use about 3 gallons of Diesel fuel to pump thru the PS pump system. Some may think I am nuts but diesel fuel is oil based, does have cleaner additives, is very viscous. I figure I will plug the low pressure hose to the PS pump, connect the cooler to a bucket, have 1 person fill the pump while I turn the steering wheel left to right. I will then pump regular PS fluid thru the pump, then flush a couple of qts of ATF+4. By the time I get done the system should be free of black crap and free of any residual diesel fuel.
Any reasonalbe thoughts on my idea would be welcome. No bashing please.

 

my fluid wasn't as dirty as what you describe but i just flushed it out with cheap atf then filled it with valvoline ATF+4. as you noted already doesn't take long for it to drain so make sure your helper keeps the new fluid flowing in and you know when to shut it off so it doesn't run dry. I added one of these in-line filters(click on accessories) to mine and the fluid still looks great now some 50k later.

 

Flushed mine about 4 times (1 QT ea time), didn't work. Just w/ ATF.
It's stuck as **** one way and works fine the other. Off to the shop, I don't have time to mess with it now!