I just noticed tonight that when u turn the wheel the wheel to the left the steerin wheel will start jumpin back against u like its bouncin off of something. I'm guessin its something with my power steerin box. Any clues what might be causein this? it's a 300 engine if that helps any and i've check the fluid and its full.

 

You can experience a little "push" back at you when you go full lock one way or the other with the steering as the pump maxes out pressure and must relieve it. It doesn't seem to take the wheel out of yor hands, does it?

 

it seems to kick back not enough to rip the wheel out of ur hands but enough that u can really feel it. it does it all the way through the turnin of the wheel.

 

Mine does it too. Doesn't ****** the wheel, kicks back. Seems normal from post above. I just don't turn it completely from one side to the other that much though. Steers ok and seems tight.

 

Ditto to tex94's response. If it gets bad, you can try some power steering conditioner (I prefer Lucas brand) but its the physics of the system so its gonna happen anyway. Saginaw unit won't produce near the amount of "feedback" through the wheel like the Ford OEM unit. But then thats a swap project.

 

Hey guys, I don't want to hijack this thread but I was planning to post about a similar issue I'm having with my 79 Bronco. It seems that when I make a tight turn, like to make a corner, after I straighten the wheel back out the steering continues to pull to the side I turned. If I jerk the wheel the other direction, or take a turn in the other direction it seems to balance back out and drive straight. But what really freaked me out was that not long after it started doing this pulling trick, it also started "jerking" to one side out of the blue. If I hit a bump or something, or sometimes just making a turn, it seems like someting catches and it oversteers. The fluid and belt both look okay. Tires are okay. Is there something in the steering box that could be loose or broken that would catch randomly like that and cause the steering to jerk? Thanks for any more advice you can offer! I'll keep searching the forums as well.

 

You might want to check your front axle U-Joints. These can cause steering problems as well.

 

Check the u-joints up front, radius arm busnings, and camber setting. "Bump steer" is caused by the reaction of a larger than normal (it will also happen with stock tires) tires coming in contact with an object or an uneven patch. It would be a good idea to have the truck's alignment checked also.

 

Thanks for the input guys.

Over the weekend I jacked the front end up so I could turn full left and right and look things over. I do think my u-joints and possibly bearings could stand to be replaced, but I grabbed both front tires and tried to wiggle them around and they seemed pretty tight. No obvious slop anyway.

According to my manual, all you do to bleed the system is turn it back and forth to full turn. I did that. I checked the fluid and belt again and they seem okay. There's no slop in the steering box that I can see. As soon as I start to turn my wheel the tires move. So, after all the inspection I took it for a drive making tight turns both ways, swerving a little, etc. and things were going well, but right as I was pulling back into my driveway my power steering was gone completely. So I was trying to turn 35's with no power assist. Not too much fun. Anyway, by the time I got in the driveway and was parking, the power steering came back. Hmmm...does this sound a like a pump on the fritz or what? Could that cause the steering to jerk, or oversteer somehow? The only other thing that is different is that I replaced my steering stabilizer recently. Could that somehow be binding up and then popping loose causing a jerk? Sorry for the goofy speculation, but it's a little nerve racking when I don't know when my steering is going to act up. For now I'm just not driving it but that sucks. I'll keep investigating and post back when ( if ) I get this figured out. Thanks again for your help.

 

An air pocket in the system will cause the "stall" in the power assist you described. So will a bad stabilizer. To bleed the power steering pump you have to keep the fluid level at or above normal in the resevoir during the lock-to-lock maneuvering process. If the fluid drops too far, the pump will take on air (especially at full lock) causing the pump to "cavitate" and thereby damage the pump. The drawback to this problem is that it will cause it to "whine" forever and will eventually cause the pump to lose a certain amount of hydraulic pressure which is what gives the "assist" in the "power assist" steering.