Hi All,

I got my van back from a shop to have the fuel filter changed out and some other misc things addressed with my van (all NOT related to suspension or steering).

When I got the van back (1993 E350) the steering felt heavy.

No slipping belts , power steering level fine but fluid was old , no funny sounds or squeaks.

The van steering got heavier and heavier as I used it and was erratic (sometimes it felt a little power assisted) sometimes not and the steering wheel stopped recentering itself (i.e. if you take your hands off the wheel after a sharp turn it stays turning and makes NO attempt to straighten itself out (I have to manually "unwind" the steering wheel).

The other day the steering almost felt like it locked up (not the steering column lock .... just got REAL TIGHT .... I had to crank the steering wheel so hard I heard a funny noise (clacking) coming from the steering column .... I THINK it was a plastic or some other bushing / bearing (?) breaking because after that turn the steering wheel developed about a half inch of up and down play (how to fix that ?) .

The steering wheel now creaks when the steering wheel is moved or turned (super annoying).

Anyways, I bought a new power steering pump (Advance Auto Parts even had me but some sort of pressure switch associated with the steering (?).

I took the van to a mobile mechanics home and he changed out the PS pump and fluid (he did not install or replace the pressure switch tho ... I have NO Idea what the switch is for so I'll return it or ask them what its for).

The steering feels more assisted BUT it is STILL pretty heavy compared to "normal" .... the steering recenters a little better when releasing the steering wheel after a sharp turn but still not as fast as normal.

What gives ? The van drives nice and straight when you go hands free , no pulling and the tires are wearing fine in the front so I assume alignment is OK ( I drove the van for probably 1500 miles with the tighter steering ( I drive long distance highway so about 250 miles or so per day) so if something was grossly out of alignment I would assume my tires would look funky).

Could the steering box somehow be bad (that is about the only other thing in the steering system I can think of that causes that issue?)....

All the ball joints / front suspension seeks t look OK and was greased up.

Thanks for any and all help on this.

Andrew

 

What are the chances someone decided to do you a favor and tighten up the steering box by cranking on the mesh adjuster screw on its top cap? I've done this on quite a few vehicles but always by a tiny bit, then what I gather if you overdo it the result will be what you're experiencing now with the stiffness and lack of self return to center position.

 

HI,

Interesting thought about adjusting the steering gear I'll have to research that .....

Before I saw this post I had swapped out the power steering pump in the hopes that would take care of the issue.

The new pump seemed to make the steering lighter initially and there was a little more auto self return to center BUT it is still a far cry from normal.

Over the course of a few days( I drive about 300 miles per day ) , the steering seems to be tightening up more again and the new pump is starting to whine a bit (and make sounds like its laboring (fluid level is OK). Less auto recentering too...

I read somewhere that maybe there is an inline filter for the powersteering fluid (I did not see any) ... could there be a screen or something plugging up causing issues ? Maybe a check valve or pressure blockage somewhere ?

I'll research the gearbox adjustment but my guess is they didn't do anything extra because they are kinda slow and backlogged as is with work.

Thanks

Andrew

 

The pressure relief valve in the pumps outlet does have a screen built into it that could get plugged up with junk from the steering pump. But from what I recall that will just send into constant pressure relief mode which would drop line pressure and thus steering assist, but would not affect return to center in any way.

The only thing controlling the motion of the steering linkage and the wheels is the steering box. A lot of those have this design feature that makes the steering feel a bit stiffer when in "straight ahead" position, it's to reduce the chance of the vehicle steering too far over at highway speeds when only a little steering wheel input is needed (such as when changing lanes). But return to center is always available as it comes from the geometry of the steering knuckles the wheels are attached to, so if you're not seeing much of it to me this suggests the steering box as the culprit.

 

I imagine the adjustment screw on your steering box has broken. Ive never heard of one breaking by its self, but sometimes, when someone tries to adjust it, itll snap, and then the steering feels all weird. It can be replaced, but its 10 times easier to just get a new or used steering box and swapping it in.

 

Reading through the posts got me to thinking some time back I remember reading
in a thread where the guys Steering Box bolts got loose and not keeping the box tight
to the frame.
Also read where there was a crack in that area of the frame.
Here is a thread I saved, maybe not related to the OP problem.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ering-box.html


Charlie