"With the front wheels off of the ground and you have the engine off can you get the steering wheel turn normally with no binding? Can you grab either wheel and push and pull from the front and back of the tire to turn the wheels and you notice any binding?
Next you will need to disconnect the tie rod ends from each side so that the steering knuckle and steering rack are separated on both sides. Turn the steering wheel and see if you still feel any binding? If you do that you have a bad power steering rack, and it is defective. I have seen this happen on remanufactured racks. If the binding goes away, then grab each wheel or steering knuckle and forcibly turn the steering knuckle left and right. See if one side binds or the other. If you feel any binding in the steering knuckle the problem is either in the upper strut plate, which is the most common problem, or the lower ball joint is the bottom pivot point. One of these three items has to be the issue at this point. It's just a matter of isolating them out."
I went through the suggested steps testing the steering with and without the rack attached while on stands. And I pulled/pushed the front wheels. It moves back and forth with no real binding. There is a point where I hear a small click, but it doesn't really bind. There is no click when the rack is not connected.
Some things I have tried that did not seem to help:
With the steering wheel-rack coupler, one of the u joints was binding, so I replaced that with a new coupler
I flushed the system with new manufactures power steering fluid.
I tried another power steering pump I got from the junkyard.
Any suggestions to try next, or should I live with this and hope it "breaks-in" eventually?
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Saturday, August 12th, 2023 AT 8:31 AM
