what makes a steering box "stick"

Cold weather is starting and I am getting a little bit of sticking on my steering gear box. Basically when the temperature stays below 40, the steering will stick one direction but not the other. I assume there's a seal or something that's freezing up but am curious to know what it is exactly. It cant be the main gear because that would stick in both directions. Some kind of valve maybe. Anybody know?

I am not being rude but I would check the fluid. I had a sticking symptom and my cap for the reservoir was missing and I was low on fluid.

I'm also getting a stuck feel when turning left just after startup. I'm just stock ps pump with a durango box. When I drilled out the high pressure line from 7/64 to 9/64 it helped a a good bit but its still there.

I have rebuilt over a hundred steering gears. The only one I have ever seen stick was mine, go figure. I adjusted it a bit tighter than most and when it is cold it tends to bind the first time or two I turn the wheel, then everything is fine. I backed off the adjuster about 20 degrees and all is well.

If it is doing it in only one direction I would worry about the output shaft bearing getting worn.

And I though I was the only one... Mine won't turn right for a few minutes until I turn it back and forth a few times :-/

My 94 with 280k or so doesn't like to get started when its cold. I have to rock the wheel back and forth a few times before it decides to go. After that it's as smooth as silk if a bit loose.

mine sometimes feels stuck, but it's generally because I'm either low on fluid (slow leak) or my serp belt is a bit under-spec on tension and I have to drive through a pretty deep pond/puddle across the road when I leave my driveway in one direction. Soon as the belt dries off it works fine again.

Once the fluid warms up the sticktion goes away. The amount of time required for it to free up depends entirely on outside temperature. So when the pump makes the fluid warm, the heat transfers to the box, which causes something to unbind or open up. Are there any valves or seals that could cause this?

PS--this is a YJ box from a part-out, and it was way overadjusted when I first got it. I had to dial back the centering preload and flush the box with transmission fluid just to get it to turn at all. Now it is fine, except on cold mornings it will stick in one direction only, until the fluid gets warm enough for it to free up.

I've had boxes act like this through the years, and I boiled it down to being worn. When I lived in a city, the car gets parked and steered more often than now that I live out in the sticks. I had a '63 Pontiac that I could not get to steer properly, numerous rebuilt boxes, adjustments, etc. I even took one of the boxes back to A1-Cardone, where it was from, and they were scratching their heads. They ended up loosening the preload on the input (I'm not sure of the terminology), and that seemed to do the trick. I also had a problem with my '98 ZJ, a reluctance to steer in either direction, and it turned out to be a weak pump...it was only three years old at the time.

When the temp. got down below 25*, our 96 XJ would lock enough to slip the belt on start up. After trying another pump & purging the system it continued to lock up in cold temp starts.

Talked to some GM guys who had similiar problems with steering lock up. They found that Lucas brand Power Steering Stop Leak fixed it, I tried it last winter. It works!

12oz container, just suck out enough ps fluid to replace with the Lucas. Believe Napa carries it, the bottle says "Renews worn rack & pinions, controls slack, squeals, hard spots & tight steering".

mine did that in my 96 with 220k on it.

this happend a short time later.







this was 3 days ago.