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Power steering/uj joints

dunbad

NAXJA Forum User
Location
uk
Hi,
I've got an issue with my power steering that I've been looking at for a while now. Here's the issue. My power steering seems to work for about an inch as I spin the wheel, then goes stiff for an inch, then it frees up again. Kinda like stuttering power steering!?! It also does it as the wheel recenters. Works fine whilst stationary however from lock to lock.

Here's what I've got or done. There's no noises. No play from wheels with them off the ground in any direction. No play anywhere else that I can see. No bubbles in power steering fluid as I spin the wheel. I've bled the system. Also emptied the ps fluid, replaced it and rebled it. The belt is tight like a german virgin(shnizen tight!) although I haven't got that tool, I can barely get 90 degrees from it and no more. Nothing blocking or snagging movement that I can see.. The uj joints that come out to the wheels don't look good as the wheels are rotated. They look rusty as hell! I "think" this is my issue. Trying to find a decent post on replacing those uj joints is kinda hard. I'm Reading the axel shaft has to come out etc. I've also established that stuttering steering can come from those bad uj joints, can I confirm with someone? And anyone know of a good write up for replacing those particular ujoints? If I take this on I'll take loads of phots so other retards like me can do it!
Many thanks
 
Yes, if the axle shaft joints are bad they'll make it stutter when moving, even if it works smoothly from lock to lock when stationary.

How hard this job is depends somewhat on how old and rusty your Jeep is, and how recently the hubs have been off. The job requires that you take the hubs off the front axle, and remove the axle shafts.

First you have to remove the big (36mm) nut from the axle shaft (do this with wheel on ground), then the wheel, then the brake caliper and rotor, and then remove the hub. The hub is spigoted into the knuckle, and secured by three 13mm. 12-point bolts from behind. It can be pretty well stuck in there. If you're lucky, it comes out without too much fuss. If you're not it can be a major pain in the butt. You might search further here with hub removal as your search criterion. Removing the hub can involve banging on the bolts, using a slide hammer (not to be done with nut removed, or you'll pull the hub apart), or with a socket or other object strategically placed between one of the bolt heads and the knuckle, using the power steering to push it out. Try to find a post here with a picture that describes this last technique, and look underneath to get the idea, because when it works this is the nicest and least troublesome way to press a hub loose, and it saves your bearings from impact. Once you have any movement of the hub at all, you have essentially won the battle, and the rest is just routine. Even if it's still very stiff and won't come the rest of the way out, you can usually get some penetrating oil into the joint, and if you then hammer it back in and repeat whatever you did to get it to move the first time it will get easier, and you'll have it out soon if you're patient.

Once the hub is off, you withdraw the axle, and replace the U-joints. They use little clips on the inside that can be hard to get hold of and take out, especially if very rusty, but eventually you'll figure it out, and then you can press the joints out, using either a ball joint press, a big vise, an arbor press, or a big hammer and an assortment of wrench sockets.

When you put the joint back together, make sure no needles get loose and end up in the back of the cup, preventing full assembly. It's not that uncommon, and you'll damage something if you try to force it together that way. Once together the joint should work smoothly. If it seems a little tight, take a big steel hammer and hit the yokes on the side (not the joints or caps themselves) a few times, and it will usually free up.

When reassembling, put the axle shaft in carefully and make sure the inner end is clean, so that you don't damage the seals in the differential. Make sure you clean up the mating surfaces of the hub with the knuckle, and use lots of anti-seize. Put the rest back together, and last of all torque on the big nut. Make sure it's really tight. I don't remember the official torque, but it should be high. It holds the bearings together, and they'll die a swift death if it's loose.
 
Hi and thanks matthewcurrie. That's a good heads up. I searched with some of your critera and found a post on the Internet with pictures, I tried pasting it here but the pictures wouldn't come out. Hopefully this is a link.
http://www.myjeepxj.com/index.php?page=u-joint-replacement

I don't know if he's left anything out or done anything bad.

I've told my brother what you said and were gonna take it on as he's a half decent shade tree mechanic and rekons we will get it done in a day. But it does look real rusty down there. But he still thinks we will get it cracked.
I'll let you know how we get on
many thanks
 
That link looks as if it has the thing about covered, and I see that it shows the power steering method of popping the hub, which is definitely at least worth a try. Good luck. This job is not really technically complex, just slow going and sometimes frustrating. But once you've done it once, you'll find it pretty easy the next time.
 
Hi,
I done this today and found this post very helpfull so thankyou matthew currie.
The 3/8 short extension thing worked a treat!!

Anyway now the problem! (couldnt go smoothly for me now could it). It started to get dark so i started to rush the reassemble of the brakes (yeah i know that was just stupid!)
On taking it out for a test drive the steering is now fine and smooth, But its like the abs kicks in pretty much as soon as i hit the brake!!!1 Its dark now so i cant see what the issue is. but i can feel the pulsating in the pedal and also some electrical sound thats similar to abs. Ill have a look first thing in the morning but any ideas?
 
ok ive found one possible cause. I was using a wire brush down there and maybe some crud got flung up onto the sensor. Any other ideas would be great. Can i just confirm worse case scenario if one of my cogs has taken a hit, or im at a loss as to whats up with it, can i just remove the relay on my 98. And anyone know which relay?
thanks
 
Ok a quick update on this. I cleaned the surface of that sensor and checked I had installed the brakes correctly, and still the same issue. I've found the relay and fuses for the abs(convieniantly labled under the hood). And now my brakes work fine although I guess without abs which is no big deal because my abs system was pretty naff anyway.
I gather from searching I've done one of two things.
1, I pinched that cog wheel whilst trying to get the old ujoint out. Apparently a small nick in one of those cogs plays havoc with the abs? Or whilst struggling to free up those 12 point bolts to release the wheelhub, I've moved the sensor a touch. Air gap should be something to within 3/4 of a mm or similar. So if anyone takes this on be mindful of this issue.
 
Hi, I had a look at this and whilst removing those three 12 point bolts I must have knocked that sensor with the hammer or more likley with the spanner itself wedging between it. This was the cause of my brake problem. The sensor got knocked upwards a few degrees. I've straightened it back and it's good but Ive left the abs relay out. If I find a new sensor I'll stick one back in.

I took some videos with my iPhone of me doing this procedure just so I knew what came from where and how to put it back! I've now published them to YouTube. It's not a how to, just how I done it (a retard!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQwxodcqAfA&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ_09aXJN9g&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i4fN_O2__0&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRBGPzKpvkM&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmLc8AJWJjY&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFuDQxhV6oU&feature=youtube_gdata

hopefully they came out, but like the crummy videos say I'm no expert , it's just what I done. Feel free to say where I went wrong or what could have been done better so everyone can learn.
Thanks
 
Looks like a good job on the u-joint replacement. I just hope you took Matthew Currie's advice on the hub axle nut seriously. People have had rapid failures from not torquing the big nut adequately. 175 foot/lbs. This wasn't really covered in the myjeep link either.
 
Thanks winter,
yeah it got torqued down right. I wanted to add that my ujoint made no sound. Nor did it have any play in it. However spinning the wheel, WHILST trying to turn it, locked it up. That's why I could not feel it through the steering stationary. Three of the four caps were good. The fourth was just full of dust.
Also knocking that sensor was very bad. Being brutally honest it was just greed with a wrench. Instead of small increments before re-adjusting the wrench, I just hammered it a couple more times probably until I felt the wrench hit something. Or maybe a hammer ricochet, either way You only need to do that once on that forward most 12 point bolt and you can knock that sensor. It didn't help that I was attacking it from the blind side of the wheel. Surley I'm not the only person to do this!?!!!

Cut a very long story short, I nearly took the front of my house off! That's no joke! I left the driveway, tested the brakes and the steering and everything worked great so I thought. Stabbed the brakes a few more times and they were good. I maybe wrong but i now gather 18mph is significant with regards to the abs system, because breaching that speed after starting up sends a signal to the computer, saying abs is now good? Either way as I re-entered my drive I was not stopping and I got zero warning light come on! Thankfully I stopped in time. On the open road, having a quadrupling stopping distance without warning could have been very bad! Just a beware, don't be greedy on that forward most bolt and knock that sensor. Other than that the job I found really easy.
 
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