OpenTrackRacer

I'm having a bit of an odyssey with my power steering and I'm hoping someone has some ideas. On a recent trip I had the power steering stall out on my a few times. I'd go to turn one way or the other at a stop and there's no boost. No pump noise, just no assist. It would start working normally after I got moving and wouldn't reoccur for days. When I got back home I replaced the power steering pump. I made the mistake of getting a rebuilt O'Rilley pump and it had problems immediately. Lack of boost at a stop and noise. One thing that stood out is that it lost boost and got hard to turn right when at a stop with the brakes applied. It'll turn fine for about one revolution and then very hard to turn until the stop. This did not happen turning left. I just replaced the pump with a new Bosch (the OEM for Mopar). The pump noise is gone and it seems to work great except I still have the lost of boost or binding when turning all the way right at a standstill.

The Jeep is lifted with 35" tires. The steering box and linkage is stock except for an AEV high steer kit (which, like the lift has been installed for several years). I've gone through it and I can't find anything binding. With the wheels off the ground and the engine on or off I can turn the steering lock to lock with no change in resistance. I also removed the steering stabilizer (which is mounted to an AEV relocation bracket) and nothing changed.

Does anyone have an idea what could be going on? Bad steering box? There's no play in any of the shafts though. Also, this issue did not occur with the original pump. It only cropped up after I changed it.

Thanks!

LC Boyer

You may have some air in the lines

OpenTrackRacer

I've bled the lines multiple times so I don't think that's it. Also, if it was air in the lines it would cause issues randomly, not only turning full right.

resharp001

How weird. Considering it's an '07, maybe this is actually a steering box issue and something happened with the internal gear

If you do think it's the box, there might be a good shot you have a Delphi box in there since it's an early model (about every part in that box is rebuildable vs. the Chinese bricks most have these days). Delphi would be stamped on the side of the box facing the inner wheel liner if that is the case. You wouldn't be able to miss it.

I think I would have thought the same thing as you replacing with cheap pump, seeing the results, and figuring I needed to go with actual factory part. It almost sounds like something is jamming up that last gear tooth or something, but it makes no sense that would happen only after you replaced the PS pump. This is really an "out there" idea....but any chance at all something got through the old pump and down in the box??

OpenTrackRacer

The box is about the only thing I can think of at this point. Nothing else seems like it could be the culprit. I can't say 100% that the issue didn't exist with the old pump but I don't turn the wheel all the way to one side or the other very often with the brakes full on but I'm pretty sure it's a new issue. The fluid looked good and there was no noticeable debris observed when the pumps were changed. I do have a Delphi box so at least rebuilding it is an option.

It only does it when there's a lot of force counteracting the tires turning (like having the brakes on) which is throwing me for a loop a bit. It's not noticeable at all otherwise.

LC Boyer

Tires have a mechanical advantage, so it takes more effort to turn them, a little bit of wear here and there is amplified