Intermitiant Power Steering?

So at times when doing slow speed turning like parking in a parking lot or doing 3 point turns it seams like the power steering does not work. It does not seem to be any reason behind when it does it either. It has happened when just started or after driving for 30 min.

Does this sound like the power steering pump may be going bad? Is that common at all? I have stock tires on right now but have some Baja Claws 33"x12.5" that will be putting on some MT side biters by next week end and what to make sure if it is the power steering pump or box is going bad or starting to have issued the new tires are going to cause it to go out over night.

It is not biased in one direction or the other. and lasts while trying to do all the turning, 5 seconds later when making a left hand turn it will work or 10 min latter when parking in a parking lot it will be fine. so it really is random and only effected at slow speeds (at least it has not happened when doing right or left hand turns).

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Hey there. I started having this same problem this last weekend, but only after I had driven all the way to Moab. Got into Arches, slowed down to make a right hand turn, and all of a sudden I had lost my power steering.

I then continued to lose it intermittently the rest of the week while on the trails, as if sharp turns in 4-Low weren't already hard enough on slickrock. I see that nobody has responded to this thread, but what did you end up doing? I haven't had a problem with it since driving home, but I don't want that happening on my next wheeling trip.

hmm I have the same issue along with a somewhat noisy power steering pump - would be interested to see if replacing the pump cures the issue

I had similar problems. Also when I looked close, I had a small leak. Replaced pump and high pressure side line (preventative), flushed system with new fluid. Good to go.

My 87 used to do this when the belt needed tightening. For some reason it would do this first, before squealing or other symptoms appeared.

X2 - Belt tension and fluid levels are first basic checks.