bloddy mud

when i take corners in my xj the wheel is hard to turn (left or right) at first then gets easy, then hard again and so on all the way around. i wanna here some opinions on wether it could be a bad power steering pump, siezed ball joints, or maybe even a siezed universal joint. power steering fluid is topped off, nothing rubbing steering componets/tires. also if i take the p/s cap off while the cap is off there isnt much fluid movement when the wheel is being turned
93
i6 h.o.
4wd
248,XXX miles

DFlintstone

Has the steering box been messed with? Some...when you adjust the lash, that's just what you get it it's set too tight. Binding in the straight forward area, then looser to the sides. Idk. if the Jeep box even does that, but some can.

The only issue I ever had there was the belt being loose.

bloddy mud

no steering box has not been touched. i got the truck bout 2 months ago and it was fine. over the weekend i took it through a dir road that was flooded by hurricane rain and since monday it has been doing this

bloddy mud

all stock suspention if that helps a bit

DFlintstone

I'm not much help on suspension. There seem to be plenty here who are though! My belt can slip more when it gets wet. Any chance there was a bunch of oil on the water you were in? Like if you stopped. Idk if oil from the engine could end up on the belt? Just a thought.

letsgomuddin

Check for mud packed in your suspension yet? Mud looks cool on your rig, but you need to wash it off asap or it gets into all the little nooks and crannies and seizes stuff up! That aside, it's probably your ps pump.

Radi

Disconnect the steering linkage at the Pitman arm, try turning the steering wheel and then the front tires to see which area is binding.

bloddy mud

ya its the pump it just started to make a noise. thanks everyone for their responces