Lost my power steering 2007 JKU

ShimShim

ShimShim

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Location
Charlotte, NC
Driving to work today I noticed a sudden change in the feel of the steering while on the highway. Once I was off the highway I noticed while turning that the steering was more difficult.

Didn’t take long to realize I have no power steering. Sitting still I can’t turn the wheel at all. When moving I can steer though it feels different.

Power steering fluid reservoir is full and there are no signs of leaks. All hoses appear to be connected. Belt is fine.

Need suggestions please. Pump? Steering box?

Ordinarily this wouldn’t be something I need a quick fix on but my truck is down getting the driveshaft balanced after replacing the U joints and it’ll be down for two to three days.

Is it safe(ish) to drive like this until I get it figured out and fixed?
 
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Just drove it home from work. Figured I needed this fixed more than I need to be at work.

One more piece of info. I cannot dry steer. It's like there is no power steering at all when I'm at a stop. If I increase the RPMs while stopped, I can dry steer and it's like there's nothing wrong.

This sounds like the pump to me. What say you guys?

Also I removed the symptom from the original post about it being hard to steer while applying brakes. That was just the result of slow speed and low RPMs. Tested it out on the way home and as long as I'm moving more than a couple miles an hour, it steers with or without brakes applied.

Time to do some research on power steering pump replacement unless anyone has any other ideas.
 
ShimShim said:
It's like there is no power steering at all when I'm at a stop.
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Tell me you've never driven a car with a manual steering box without telling me you've never driven a car with a manual steering box...?

Sounds like the pump died.
 
shawn said:
Tell me you've never driven a car with a manual steering box without telling me you've never driven a car with a manual steering box...?

Sounds like the pump died.
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Does an old Ford stepside brush truck on 37" tires, manual transmission and no power steering count? I was trying to make it as plain as I could.

I'm going with pump death as well. Picking up new in a little bit so I can change it in the driveway in the dark since my truck is currently occupying the garage. It's like the jeep knew today was a terrible day to pull this shit on me.
 
Ok, need more help from the brain trust.

Replaced the pump with a reman unit from advance auto. Not my preferred route but it was available and the right price.

Installed this morning fairly easily. Pumped out as much fluid as I could prior to removing the dead pump. New ATF+4. Cycled the steering to prime the pump as best I could without the engine running, then cycled again with the engine running. Did the best I could to cycle it enough to get air out of the system with the jeep on jack stands so there wasn't as much pressure on the pump to move the steering.

Took it for a test drive and it did fine for a few miles. Then it got hard to steer at low speeds and engine at idle. Increase in RPM got the pump to kick back in and steering returned.

Does this sound like air in the system or a dud of a pump? I can dry steer in the driveway with the wheels on the ground for a little bit then it gets difficult. Again, increase in RPM clears this and it works again. The pump whistles at full lock and holding the wheel to keep pressure. There is a faint whistle while dry steering with the wheels on the ground. No whistle and no issues cycling the steering with the wheels off the ground.

Also no signs of leaks and I did replace the O ring on the high pressure line.
 
Air in the system.
Front end on jack stands and cycle the wheel back and forth until you're tired of doing it. When you're done, turn it all the way one direction and shut it off. It'll bleed some air out while off.
 
Jody Treadway said:
Air in the system.
Front end on jack stands and cycle the wheel back and forth until you're tired of doing it. When you're done, turn it all the way one direction and shut it off. It'll bleed some air out while off.
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Ok, lemme go try that. Any preference for vacuum bleeding it? Or will cycling it again and leaving it one direction take care of it?
 
ShimShim said:
Ok, lemme go try that. Any preference for vacuum bleeding it? Or will cycling it again and leaving it one direction take care of it?
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I did Jeep repair professionally for nearly 15 years and never once used a PS bleeding tool.
Turning against a lock and shutting off always worked for me.
 
Jody Treadway said:
I did Jeep repair professionally for nearly 15 years and never once used a PS bleeding tool.
Turning against a lock and shutting off always worked for me.
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Sounds like your advice wins then. Thank you. I'll post up tomorrow how it went. Gotta get to work today.

Any issues driving it like this other than the obvious difficulty turning at times? Or am I risking damaging the steering pump and need to be late to work to try and get the air out?
 
Quick update for you @Jody Treadway

Had just enough time before heading to work to try to bleed the system. 10 straight minutes with front wheels off the ground, cycling from lock to lock. Then 10 minutes at full lock with engine off. No leaks detected.

It still whistles when turning against lock to put pressure on the system. Don’t know if that’s normal or not.

Drove to work (about a 20 minute drive). No change. It was immediately noticeable that there’s still an issue.

Checked under the hood. No leaks apparent. The reservoir is more full than before which I find weird. It was just above max before I left. And now it’s way full.

Thoughts? Thanks so much for your help so far. This is getting kinda frustrating.
 
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