tight steering and loose clutch

some days it seems like my '90 xj has the same use-to-repair ratio as an f-16! just put in a super low mile steering box from an '00. new hoses and flushed out the system of dexron 3 to use the clear style fluid( what the new one had in it )it is tight! it's too tight. its almost an effort to parralel park and I only have 31'shas anyone tried to adjust one? do the later ones have a higher volume pump or something? and the clutch. now have 2" of play in the pedal. the linkage is tight and you can see the pushrod moving back and forth behind the piston. its like the piston wont return, is there a spring in front to push the piston back? and last but not least. when putting in a new pan gasket last night I could move the timing chain up and down about 3/4 of an inch. oh man...

sounds like the slave cyl is leaking in the bell housing.not sure about the steering. you coul have replaced the timing chain while you were there but if it doesnt make any rattling noise it should be ok

Naxja

I have not driven a new model XJ with larger than stock tires, but I can tell you that the older ones (mine's an '88) were typical AMC steering -- massively over-boosted to the level of having no "road feel" (tactile feedback) at all. I have a 2000 XJ, still on stock tires, and the steering on the new one is substantially stiffer. This is a function of the spool valve in the steering box, nothing to do with the pump.

I assume you are trying to turn the steering wheel while the vehicle isn't moving? Bad idea. Now that you can feel how hard that is, think of the stress that puts on all the tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. TRain yourself to steer only when the tires are rolling, even if it's only 1/2 MPH, and you'll find the steering is tolerable plus your steering components will last about 5 times longer.

Ive got a couple hundred k on it now and its still the same. always do my best not to load up the steering while parked. feels at least 25% stiffer than the old box.

The newer boxes are much tighter feeling than the old ones. It´s a function of the spool valve, as I wrote before.