W
Will Honea
Guest
I've got an 88 MJ, 4.0L with power steering. For quite a while now
I've been noticing a small "catch" or bind, for lack of a better term,
at a spot about 1/8 of a turn, maybe 30 degrees, from centered
position of the wheel, if I make a slow turn while I'm moving. Does
the same thing at the same place in both directions, more noticable to
the right. OK, steering gear is going. Couple of things that bother
me, tho. At a dead stop, I cannot find the bind no matter how lightly
or slowly I turn the wheel. I've tried taking weight off the front
end and checking at several spots on the way up but I still can't
duplicate the problem sitting still, even with the wheels off the
ground. The other oddity is that this doesn't show up until I run it
for a few miles and warm up the ps fluid. When it's happening, it
feels just like a bad worm gear or a cracked ball in the steering
gear. I've had a similar issue with older GM cars when the spool wore
out, but it's not quite the same.
I thought I'd ask for ideas before I just swap out the steering gear -
I would hate to replace that (damned pitman arm!) only to find that it
was really something in the suspension. This is the same front end
that is under the 87+ XJ so if anyone has any better ideas than the
gear box I'm all ears.
--
Will Honea <[email protected]>
I've been noticing a small "catch" or bind, for lack of a better term,
at a spot about 1/8 of a turn, maybe 30 degrees, from centered
position of the wheel, if I make a slow turn while I'm moving. Does
the same thing at the same place in both directions, more noticable to
the right. OK, steering gear is going. Couple of things that bother
me, tho. At a dead stop, I cannot find the bind no matter how lightly
or slowly I turn the wheel. I've tried taking weight off the front
end and checking at several spots on the way up but I still can't
duplicate the problem sitting still, even with the wheels off the
ground. The other oddity is that this doesn't show up until I run it
for a few miles and warm up the ps fluid. When it's happening, it
feels just like a bad worm gear or a cracked ball in the steering
gear. I've had a similar issue with older GM cars when the spool wore
out, but it's not quite the same.
I thought I'd ask for ideas before I just swap out the steering gear -
I would hate to replace that (damned pitman arm!) only to find that it
was really something in the suspension. This is the same front end
that is under the 87+ XJ so if anyone has any better ideas than the
gear box I'm all ears.
--
Will Honea <[email protected]>
