Power steering locks up

[Mr Hagg]

All of the above mention are good areas to look however the most over looked thing is the power steering filer. Which will lead to destroying the pump and the steering box. Id change it ASAP......The damage may have already been done but a good cheap please to start...

[indian_richard]

(09-22-2017 )redtick Wrote:  Check the bearing in the steering column.

Do you mean the U-joints or the circular roller bearing thing in the firewall?

[redtick]

Inside the column itself. I had the top bearing go bad on a truck once. It turned out to have a nylon race. Time had made it brittle. It would let the shaft drop 1/4 inch and bind at the most inopportune time.

[redtick]

If you think about it, if the pump quit, you should still be able to turn the wheel, it would be hard to steer but you should be able to steer. So by that logic, the problem is above the steering box.

I've seen guys on old manual boxes, screw in the adjustments to try and tighten the box in an attempt to take slack or play out of the "wheel." Most of the time it will cause the steering to bind due to the wear pattern of the gears.

[Brock]

I'm with hagg. When's the last time you changed that filter?

My money is on power steering pump. I just did the exact same thing on my Pete and that's what it was.

You start turning, the pump surges as it Take a alot to turn them tires and "locks up" you said you can force it but it turns easier the other way... that's because it's easy to turn the tires back into the nuteral position once the loads been put on them but way harder to keep turning them.

[JMBT]

I had the same thing on my Volvo a few years back. I went through everything. pS fluid, pump, filter, steering box, even king pins, at my wits end I replaced the entire steering shaft from the box to the wheel. Volvo has an articulating steering wheel that puts the upper U joints, (the ones inside the cab) in a bind in certain wheel positions. The shaft ended up fixing the issue. Just wish I had tried it first. I was reluctant because there was no play in any of the U joints, but it fixed the issue!

[indian_richard]

So, I flushed the power steering fluid, bled it, replaced the fluid and the filter. It didn't fix the problem, but when I had the front axle off the ground I turned the wheels by hand and I could here the input shaft of the steering box clanking as I turned the wheels fast in either direction. To me, that means a new steering box, but I would like to know why it's doing that and if that could be the cause of the problem. If so could I adjust the box to take that slop out of it?