PS in the morning

[Kiefer316]

96 xj 4.0 in the morning when i start my jeep my steering wheel will not move at all... atleast until i give it a good yank right or left...anyone have this problem before i havn't looked at the fluid yet but may that be the cause?

[Hypoid]

Sounds like it is binding somewhere.

Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "good yank". Does it act the same with the engine off?

Oh yeah, :twak: check your fluids, :twak: all of them, :twak: often!!!

[riverfever]

Next time it happens try blipping the throttle while lightly trying to turn and see if that helps. Mine's done that on really cold mornings for the last 2 years. I think it's the steering gear getting ready to go maybe.

[Kiefer316]

yeah it does it on cold mornings...i belive that could be the problem

[JJacobs]

Spool valve sticking in the steering gear. Aka 'morning sickness'. There are some aftermarket additives out there that may or may not fix the problem, might be worth a try.

[Dustin_Z]

Mine does the same thing. Talking to other XJ owners in my area I have been told to put a new pump on (saginaw or similar, good one is a Durango steering box) then run synthetic fluid. Suppodsley it makes it very nice.

[riverfever]

PM Idiot Wind...see if he can squeeze you in for a steering gear repair.

Azzhole came down here and squirted power steering fluid ALL OVER my garage. What was funnier was the magnatude of my OCD flare up when it opened. I'm still cleaning that shat.

[nick86]

This is a very common issue. I live in a cold weather state, and it's like that every winter morning. Goes away if you rev engine and turn steering wheel.

[YELLAHEEP]

Spool valve sticking in the steering gear. Aka 'morning sickness'. There are some aftermarket additives out there that may or may not fix the problem, might be worth a try.

Yep - what he said. Check your fluid, if it's nasty brown/black, flush it out with new fluid and that may help.

[Kiefer316]

is there a drain hole for the ps pump? im probably going to do that tonight...

[YELLAHEEP]

Nope, this will be one of the messiest jobs you can get into.

Just spread out alot of newspaper, drop cloth, cardboard, whatever under the XJ and loosen the pressure line from the pump. Remove the belt from the PS pulley. Then loosen the low pressure hose off the back - don't remove either line yet. Then remove the bolts holding the pump in place. If you have some 3/8" fuel line laying around, plug one end of a short piece of that and make yourself a small plug for the low pressure line fitting. Remove the high pressure line, then the low pressure line. If you couldn't make a plug, hold your finger over the low pressure fitting. Remove the pump and pour out the pump reservoir. You can then get most of the fluid out of the lines and box by hanging the hoses down into a pan/bucket and then manually turning the box right and left to full lock. Replace all parts and refill. You may get the typical PS whine when putting the new fluid in - just slowly turn the wheel right to lock then left to lock slowly to allow the fluid to pump in and the air to pump out. It may take a day or two of driving before the whine goes away.

[Kiefer316]

dang maybe im not going to do it tonight i dont feel like taking everything apart

[JJacobs]

Lot cleaner, simpler way to do it- remove the return line from the pump and cap the fitting. If you don't have a cap use a length of hose elevated above the pump reservoir. Attach another piece of hose to the return line, long enough to get it in a bucket or pan. Start/ stop the engine a couple times, it'll run the reservoir dry pretty quick. Repeat till you get nice red fluid coming out and reassemble.

If you get whine out of the system a quick check to see if air is present. Note the fluid level in the res with engine off, then start it. If the level drops there's air in the system, which can be cleared as Troy said by driving a while. Alternatively a Mityvac style vacuum pump can be used to pull the air out. Get a squishy bouncy ball at Walmart or toy store, Superballs are too hard to seal to the irregular surface. Run a piece of brass through it and hook to the vacuum pump, apply 15-20" of vacuum for 5 minutes with the engine running. It'll get louder with vacuum, and if the level's too high fluid will go into the pump. Turning full lock right usually helps.

[JJacobs]

Glad I took the time to type all that out.

[riverfever]

Why man? I thought it was super helpful. Idiot Wind and I did his and had a lot of problems. Wish we woulda had that info. :thumbup:

[Jawa]

Why man? I thought it was super helpful.

x2 I've got some steering stuff going on, so I found this very interesting.

[Hypoid]

Glad I took the time to type all that out.Me three! I might have read the vacuum trick, but never tried it.
Thanks from under the shady tree!

[Idiot Wind]

Idiot Wind and I did his and had a lot of problems. Wish we woulda had that info. :thumbup:
yeah, but then you would have a nice clean workbench. pretty cool how fast that surface soaked up that PS fluid!

good info in this thread. would have been helpful for sure.

[JJacobs]

That's cool, I was just hoping somebody was putting it to use. It's stuff like that I wish I had known my first day on the job. :)

[riverfever]

Oh I can't wait to change my steering gear at Scotts place. With this new info we might be able to break 6 hours for the job. :yelclap:

You do have a work bench right Scott?

[Kiefer316]

thanks JJacobs im probably going to do it next weekend see if i cant fix it and also thanks for typing it out...