Bad steering box or other problem?

I did a search and it gave me some hints, but it was unconclusive.

For a few months now, my steering box has been leaking a little and leaving droplets on the pitman arm. I put in some steering fluid w/ sealer to get me by and that worked for a while. Well, recently while driving I've been feeling slight vibes in the steering wheel when taking off, then it would even out. I thought, that is something else. But just last week, while moving my junk around the drive way, I did a slow turn to the left and a very noticable clunk is observed. Then proceeded with steering fluid leakage. What is the CLUNK exactly?
I did a cursory inspection near the frame and I don't see any damage,etc. Is there something INSIDE the box causing the clunk? How do I know the pump is still good? The fluid still appears quite full though. I'm already pricing it's replacement. If someone has a better search result thread for this, I'm open to that to. I'm gonna check track bar stuff, but since it visually leaked after those clunks in the driveway, something tells me it finally gave up the ghost. Anyway, it's not my daily driver and I have low-intermediate mechanical ability so I hope to dig into it this weekend.

Thanks for any info or advice one might have,

Bill-INDYXJ :repair:

I'm going to take a guess and say that your box is worn and it's skipping teeth inside.
here's a link to adjusting the saginaw style box.
http://www.off-road.com/jeep/fullsize/ifsjaboxadj.htm
That may fix it, or it may only delay the inevitable. I'd go and find a spare box to keep around. Changing it shouldn't be that big of a deal provided it's not too badly rusted/nasty. Make sure you get a pitman arm puller from the parts store before you start, it's one of the tools they rent most places.

Without going into the gory details, first let me say that it's pretty near impossible that your steering gear is skipping teeth. There are only, I think, three big fat hairy teeth in there, and if it skipped one, you'd know it. You'd probably have flown into a ditch now with lost or jammed steering.

However, it's pretty common for these steering gears to develop serious play in the pitman shaft, and that's a good place to start looking for the clunk. Get down there and have someone else wiggle the steering back and forth just enough to show some movement at the tires. Engine can be off, and wheels on the ground for this. Look for lost motion/play/relative movement/slop, whatever you want to call it. Bad bearings in the pitman shaft will show up as sideways movement, and it's a good suspect if you're also getting leakage. A tiny bit is considered acceptable, but of course enough to clunk or leak is definitely not. Look also at all the other linkages in the steering, again looking for relative movement where it shouldn't be. You might have to jack up the front wheels for further study to make sure that there isn't a bad ball joint or wheel bearing contributing, and while you're at it, check the axle universals, which can make various clunks and clanks when they wear. You've already got mud on your back anyway. A good place to relax in the shade.

With engine off, when you wiggle the steering, it will probably make a little clicking from inside the box, but this is fairly normal. Some of the play in the internal mechanism is taken up by the circulating fluid when it's running. But there shouldn't be big clunks and grinds either. If you jack up both wheels and then turn the wheel lock to lock, it should work pretty smoothly. If you hear clunks then, you may have to get down under it again, and see if you can isolate them. You should also be aware that the mechanism is designed to be tighter on center than off. There should be very little play in the steering when when it's centered, but some extra play off center is normal. Never try to adjust that out or you run the risk of having the steering bind on center and....oh, the usual stuff, crash, burn, maiming, blood on the streets and that sort of thing.

I'll try to update with pics...I did something VERY stupid and yet, I'm thankful it didn't happen before. I was test driving it out in the country and it was really clunking and I'm like...I better get this beech home. So, as I turn in to the subdivision...it wanted to KEEP GOING straight and listed very weird!!!
The adjustable track bar wher the nut is on the full traction bar...well the threads are fully exposed and the bar was OFF that entirely!!! That must of been the banging!!! Great...anyway, was able to baby it SLOWLY to my drive way and was happy to be alive since I went on a 2 lane highway minutes earlier. DUMB.

Is this bad? LOL!!! Can this be the ONLY source of the clunking perhaps? I know now, when it's in the driveway, when I turn the wheel the WHOLE FRONT OF THE XJ moves and the tires BARELY MOVE? WTF...I'm a n00b to this type of issue. Thanks for any insight guys!

Bill-IndyXJ

"well there's your problem"

Yup..all this time I THOUGHT it was that leaky ass steering box, which I'm sure has issues anyway, but I foolishly never looked further tonight when test driving it. Glad I didn't wreck when the steering went to hell 200ft from the house.

GOOD GOD!!!!

wow! can u say dodged a bullet. whew!