Kevin Wiles Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I have a steering problem. When I turn to the LEFT it feels like i have lost power steering, and sometimes I feel a herky jerky in the steering. So I felt like I probably had air in the system. I raised the front end of the car to bleed the system and when I started to turn the wheel, I got an unpleasant surprise. With the engine NOT running, and the front wheels OFF the ground, it is easy to turn the wheel to the right, but when you turn left there is some resistance. You can feel a bit of a grinding. Me and jared both felt it. Even if you lean up against the car you can feel a vibration throughout the whole car when you turn the wheel left. which is odd with the engine off and the wheels in the air...... So what I thought was a power steering PUMP problem is something else all along. What do you diagnose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Unhook the center link from the pitman arm and try it again see if its in the steering box or somewhere else. could be binding in the linkage or ball joint or joints or steering box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS5 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 My guess or 2 cents worth Kevin is it's in the Power Steering Box on the Frame. sounds like a Valve is gone and one of 2 gears in there is popping. Darren. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Unhook the center link from the pitman arm and try it again see if its in the steering box or somewhere else. could be binding in the linkage or ball joint or joints or steering box. Darn, should of thought of that tonight. My guess is the Steering Box as well though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Unhook the center link from the pitman arm and try it again see if its in the steering box or somewhere else. could be binding in the linkage or ball joint or joints or steering box. That's where I would start also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wiles Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 i'll have to wait til i can borrow a puller to pull the pitman arm ,... but in the meantime... Tonight i lifted the car again and with it NOT running, it turned smooth as silk left and right, i went back and forth at least 20 times, realllll nice, no vibration, nothing like that. then i cranked the car and did the same, left right, smooth, nice. shut the engine off and tried it again.... turning the wheel with the engine off. It starts to feel a little like it did last night, harder to steer to the left... vibration, a little noise.. then Gurgle, hiss, sploosh. check the floor. fluid all over. maybe i had it overfilled, , i DONT KNOW but it sure doesn't seem normal to me for a NON RUNNING car's steering fluid to rise when the wheel is turned... is it normal? again I DONT KNOW So i dry that fluid up and wipe everything dry to see if i can figure out where its coming from. Well, its coming from the top. at the filler neck, its overflowing. its almost like its building up pressure or like theres something stopping up the system and the fluid has nowhere to go except thru the top. but anyway.... long story short: after sitting overnight it felt good, then bad, then started leaking. And i'm trying to get a pitman arm puller rented to further diagnose... but, does any of this new info tell you anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 You don't need a puller. Leave the pitman arm on the steering box. Take it off at the end that attaches to the center link. If it was full it can spew fluid out of the reservoir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wiles Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 i took the cotter pin out and used a 5/8" wrench to take the castle nut off of the center link there and it would not come off. I even tried a pickle fork and the pickle fork broke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGD72Monte Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I've had problems with pickle forks before when dealing with the centre link, had to pull out the big hammer and hit the taper area of the link to shock the stud out of its taper wedge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Ok; it's impossible to describe the procedure with just words. I made a photo of a generic pitman arm and show how to get those dumb things apart. The pivots have a tapered shaft and fit tight into a tapered hole. This is true of ball joints, and all the steering link ends. The trick is to deform the hole enough to make it let go of the shaft running through it. Pounding on the threads and trying to drive the shaft back out the way it came rarely works without damage to the piece. A picklefork does this, but it takes tremendous force to make it happen. Now look at the photo here: The box I drew represents something solid and heavy. Maybe a 4lb hammer head? Hold it tight against the back side of the arm, and hit the front side with a sharp blow (indicated by arrow) with another big hammer. The object is to deform that end for a second so it releases its grip on the shaft. Often times the two parts will simply drop apart, or require minimal effort to separate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wiles Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 i went out and banged and pounded on it for about an hour and it wouldn't budge. i even tried putting another nut from my stash on and beating it down from the engine bay with the use of some socket extentions. no luck. that thing is stuck GOOD... well i just read wallaby's post so.... maybe i can try that, but i'm going to have to find a 4 lb hammer or similar object, because i dont have anything like that, that i can think of. plus, i can imagine that it would be nice to have a helper when doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobsmc Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Just a thought, the center link will not drop down very much while attatched to the idler arm. maybe its seperated , but you cannot pull it down enough to tell? bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leghome Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 A trick I have learned is to take a propane torch and heat it with that and they usually pop off a lot easier. I always make sure there is no grease or oil close that could be ignited. The propane does get it red but expands it enough to pop a lot easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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