intermitent power steering stiffness

[motorcityxj]

3 times now in the last ten days, with out rhyme or reason when i start up my XJ the power steering is not functioning properly. Then in less than a minute it is fine. No leaks, fuild toped off.

Is it the pump slowly failing? i never had a pump fail before, i replaced the steering gear boxs on other vehicles but never a failing pump so i dont know if they fail slowly like this or just crap out. It goes away then is fine for days in a row.

So any ideas guys?

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

3 times now in the last ten days, with out rhyme or reason when i start up my XJ the power steering is not functioning properly. Then in less than a minute it is fine. No leaks, fuild toped off.

Is it the pump slowly failing? i never had a pump fail before, i replaced the steering gear boxs on other vehicles but never a failing pump so i dont know if they fail slowly like this or just crap out. It goes away then is fine for days in a row.

So any ideas guys?

Funny thing...mine has been doing this a lot too recently and I have a pump off of a 98 on mine. I wouldn't think it's bad already and my fluid is topped off too. Mine makes hardly any noises and is always fine otherwise. I would almost bet it's because of the colder weather, (I'm assuming it's colder in Detroit right now too) but that's just my guess.

 

[motorcityxj]

Funny thing...mine has been doing this a lot too recently and I have a pump off of a 98 on mine. I wouldn't think it's bad already and my fluid is topped off too. Mine makes hardly any noises and is always fine otherwise. I would almost bet it's because of the colder weather, (I'm assuming it's colder in Detroit right now too) but that's just my guess.

temperature crossed my mind but its not to bad its 41 degrees high temp today. I have had this jeep for 5 years + lots of below zero weather in a detroit winter and never an issue. The temp thing crossed my mind for a minute, but that doesnt explain why in less than a minute it is fine, pump fuild doesnt "warm up" and pump nice in 30-40 degree weather in a minute.

LOL if you figure yours out holla back. I may just buy a new pump its should only be like 50 bucks at NAPA. That has to be it right, i mean no leaks ? I just kinda figured the pump would just outright fail, not pussy foot around with this start up stiffness.:rattle:

 

[Micha]

could it be the pump takes some time to build up the pressure to power the steering? so would we have to look for a failing seal / pressure valve allowing the pressure to drain when not running and thus making the steering hard when starting up?

that might still indicate a faulty pump - but might be fixable...

 

[beachbuggy]

might just be air in the sysyem and needs bled. if you had the pump off to exchange it or diconnected lines to tweak the gearbox you would have introduced air in there. bleeding the system is easy but the air can hide out in tight places making it a little tedious to get it all out. i just replaced the pump on my 2000 and had to repeat the bleeding process twice to get all the air out. working fine now. other than that, the pump is probably about to s**t itself. if you remove the belt, you can usually tell by spinning the pulley. if it feels loose or like it has marbles in the works, its time for a replacement. about 60 bucks plus a core charge, and you'll have to pull the pulley off the old pump and reuse.

 

[Matthew Currie]

Not to belabor the obvious, but have you checked the belt for tightness? Remember that the serpentine belt in an XJ must be very tight, and if you're used to normal belts, you'll be surprised at how tight that is. Although warning signs seem to vary, my old 87 would get power steering "pump catch," or intermittent loss of power steering, when the belt wasn't quite tight enough, and long before any other squeals or problems arose.

I would also consider just flushing the fluid in the PS, and putting in fresh. It's possible that the vanes in the pump are sticking a little in the cold. If it's quiet once it warms up, it's probably not a bad pump.

 

[Micha]

the belt could be the culprit: if the engine is cold it would be a bit stiffer and may not grab the pump at start up but will after a short while of running...

have someone watch it when you start the car in the morning?

 

[Jay Welch]

Sounds like a good case for Lucas Power Steering Treatment.

Jay in MA

 

[old_man]

If you have any crud flowing in the fluid, it can cause the valve to stick. Mine happened on the trail and caused a roll over. The first thing I would do is to pull the low pressure return line and start the vehicle up for a few seconds and blow all the old fluid into a container. I would then reconnect, fill with fresh fluid, run it for a few minutes and repeat. Then fill it up with fresh. This is a good idea for any vehicle with over 150k miles anyway and only costs a few bucks and a few minutes of time.

 

[fdsa487]

If you have any crud flowing in the fluid, it can cause the valve to stick. Mine happened on the trail and caused a roll over. The first thing I would do is to pull the low pressure return line and start the vehicle up for a few seconds and blow all the old fluid into a container. I would then reconnect, fill with fresh fluid, run it for a few minutes and repeat. Then fill it up with fresh. This is a good idea for any vehicle with over 150k miles anyway and only costs a few bucks and a few minutes of time.

I had the same problem

I did just what you said.

Have not had the problem in about 6 months now.

 

[motorcityxj]

If you have any crud flowing in the fluid, it can cause the valve to stick. Mine happened on the trail and caused a roll over. The first thing I would do is to pull the low pressure return line and start the vehicle up for a few seconds and blow all the old fluid into a container. I would then reconnect, fill with fresh fluid, run it for a few minutes and repeat. Then fill it up with fresh. This is a good idea for any vehicle with over 150k miles anyway and only costs a few bucks and a few minutes of time.

hmmm ok ill buy that idea, its at 126k bought it at 70 ish and i have never changed it. Ill do that and report back. thanks.