vanderlei

Hi!

I have a problem with my power steering. It only works before the engine has reached operating temp and when it is hot I have to rev it to get full power steering. The power steering has worked great for more than a year of daily driving and about 15 days of wheeling since I bought it.

The problems started when I changed power steering fluid and ran it with the return line disengaged to empty it completely. I just ran it for maybe 5 sec. The pump would not work properly after that and leaked even more than it was doing before.
After that I have installed another used pump from a ZJ 4.0 and it has never worked properly. There is no air in the fluid and it does not make a lot of noise as a failed/failing pump usually does. I got a bad belt squeal after the pump installation and changed idler pulley with no effect and then changed water pump and the squeal disappeared. I thought that maybe the water pump was so hard to turn that it somehow made the ps-pump not turn correctly on the belt. But the old water pump turned very easily so maybe I was just lucky and got the right tension on the belt to get rid of the squeal.
The steering works just fine when I drive it around town but as soon as I am standing still and want to turn my wheels (31" AT's) I have to put in in neutral and rev it or move forward. The steering box does not move and the uniframe is reinforced
A new PS-pump here in Sweden costs about 250$ and a Durango steering box about the same.
Can anybody give me any tips on where to go from here?
Does the ZJ 4.0 PS-pump have the same rating as a Cherokee 4.0 pump?
Have I ruined the steering box by idling the engine to make it empty out the fluid?

Looking forward to your help

spittinimage

sounds to me like maybe the new/used pump you got is bad too. i see the symptoms you talk about alot on lifted superduty's with big tires but not on xj's. cant think of anything more at the moment man sorry.

trans_am7935

you still have a leak, your fluid thins out when it gets hot and then a pinhole leak will come into play, find it and problem solved, unless u fried ur gears in your steering box from lack of fluid.

mwdouglas

my ps pump leaks at the seal behind the pully mine has the same symptoms as yours but only if i dont check the fluid level before geting in and driving i have found that autozone (auto parts store in the us) caries a rebuild kit for the ps pump and the stearing box i found the rebuild kits on there site http://www.autozone.com

vanderlei

Thank you for your quick replies!

No leaks since I installed the new pump. If there was a lack of fluid at any time I guess the pump would make a lot of noise, but it never does.
A guy at Naxja mentioned one of the check-valves in the box. Does anyone have experience with those?

/J

spittinimage

it does not have to make a bunch of noise to be bad. Mine is kinda noisy and i turn 31's just fine. If the new/used pump you got didnt change a damn thing when you put it on then that pretty much eliminates the pump as the problem (unless it has the exact same problem). try a power steering additive of some sort like lukas or something. no experience with that check valve option

miglia-spyder

Mine does this same exact thing! Im leaning towards my steering box. Because i have a new Power Steering pump and zero leaks. Its a pain in the *** when your wheeling though!

dunney

Hi all
Sorry to resurect an old thread but maybe some of you guys resolved your problems and can help me do the same. My 97 XY (Euro spec) diesel has the same problem. I have not had the car that long and so don't know if anyone tried to sort this out in the past but I doubt it. Basically when cold the power steering works fine, but once hot it does very little when you are stationary. You can hear it trying to do something but does very little if anything. On the move it feels fine.

I can't detect any leaks but I wouldn't rule it out, but the level stays the same so I am guessing that there are no leaks.

Should I start by changing the fluid as I guess that if it is shot it will lose viscosity when hot and thus reduce efficiency?

Compared to my regular car there is a lot of play in the steering (more like my old tractor) but it passed its inspection with no problem. Do these have a lot of play or should the steering be pretty close to a normal car?

Dunney

kcxj

steer shaft gets worn, but it could be many things. Have someone wiggle the wheel & watch everything from shaft to wheels. Not sure about the cold hot thing. Maybe dirty fluid or bad pump.

imarh

Hi,

I have exactly the same problem with my WJ.
Did you find any resolution of this problem and what was is?

Thank you.