Pump failure= whining from pump, whining increase with rpm. Difficult and/or near impossible to turn front wheels at idle. Steering wheel will turn with increase of throttle above 1500-2200 rpms. However, at first start in morning or when fluid is cold, steering feels fine, can turn the front tires like nothing is wrong, may have the whine. As fluid heats, steering at idle becomes more and more difficult
Steering box failure= clunk in steering heard or felt when turning steering wheel. Play in wheel from 1/4 turn to as much as 1/2 a turn in steering wheel (maybe even more). When driving, there can be a big lag from the time you turn the steering wheel, to the time the front wheels actually start to turn. Feels like a free spot in the steering where nothing is going on.
I have no whining, ability to fully turn while at idle both ways and no clunking.
But during parking or making a full turn in a parking lot or driveway or pulling out of my driveway at a 90* turn my ps goes away for just a second and then comes right back. My fluid is good...
I have about a 1/4 to half turn of play in my steering at times. Is this my steering box? Any recommendations on replacements?
Start by having someone turn your steering wheel back and forth (engine running and vehicle in park), while you look at ALL steering linkage underneath for play. Should be zero lateral play in all steering components. Very rare for steering box to have internal issues.
Already did that, did not see any issues. Only thing was my drag link was leaking a little grease in the linkage but did not have play in it. The 1/4 to 1/2 turn of play is not all the time, only occasionally when driving, but can be very dangerous if it happens at the wrong time.
The next thing I would do is the same test, have someone turn the wheel while you watch your gear box. When the input shaft going into the box turns, your output shaft at pitman arm should turn also. If the input shaft turns and the output shaft has a delay, it could be a box issue. Being that it is intermittent is VERY abnormal. I would look over all of your steering shaft/column connections too for any play.
Are you saying your whole steering wheel moves 1/4 to have turn before the wheels do? Like 90 degrees of steering wheel turn before vehicle actually steers?
Yes, 1/4 to 1/2 turn at time before anything happens. However, this is not every time. It is hard to recreate while the jeep is parked, I have been unable to do so yet. It is only when driving and I take a turn, usually if i take the turn slow it may not happen, but it seems to happening more frequently.
Hasnt seen a dealer since, I have no idea, so no recalls or anthing of that nature. However, I pulled the axles in December to get them regeared, and it drove fine and was amazing up until last weekend when I went wheeling. After the hour drive home I started to notice it.