first time wheeling today! (powersteering acted up...?)

[dingus]

1043395

hey! i'm gonna have a big grin on my face for the next few days... i just got back from my first wheelin' trip... mainly mud and creek crossings, a few technical sections, pretty fun stuff! my lift hasn't completely arrived yet (but i have the rear leaf packs sitting on my front porch) so i'm waiting for that... my jeep ('90XJ) is completely stock and it handled everything well. except about 3/4 of the way through my power steering went out. the deepest creek part was about 2 feet... and it really didn't get knocked around too hard. i took everything really slow. the powersteering then, on the way home, would work for about 20 degrees of steering wheel rotation (total movement, lets say 10 degrees to either side) without acting weird. once i would turn farther than that it would stiffen up and i would have to crank really hard to get it to turn. i pulled into my buddy's driveway and checked the powersteering fluid, and it was completely full. hmm... after dinner, i drove to my GF's house to go trickortreating (hey, 18 isn't too old is it?) and it drove BETTER than before, this time i could steer with full power assist as long as the engine wasn't idling. and then now, on the way home about 2 hours later, it seems fine. sometimes its a little grabby, but its all power now. (and no, its not stuck in part-time 4wd)

any thoughts?



-nate



ps... its a dark blue color, and now it's brown from the front bumper back! lol... [addsig]

 

[poooorboy]

1043461

Dude sounds like you had a blast !So did you get alot of candy?

[addsig]

 

[dingus]

1043486

yeah it was a great time. i still haven't washed it. it turns out i wasn't being very observant on the way home that night... the power steering works fine when it is rolling moving, but anything less than like 5 miles per hour the power steering goes out. i can deal with it, but its a pain. i think its the power steering pump, as all of the fluid is there.



PS... note to self: dirty trucks attract police attention. my girlfriend's dad told me that a cop stopped and got out and inspected my jeep close up that night. he prolly took my plate #'s down and such too. not that i was anywhere i shouldn't have been, but its not worth being hassled if you have a few minutes to wash it down, do it![addsig]

 

[MudderChuck]

1043493

Have on occasion bounced one around so much, the oil in my power steering resivoir switched ends with the air. Made a noise like a demented suction pump, but was OK after repeated turns from stop to stop.

P.S. note to Dingus, it´s alot easier to clean before it turns to cement.

[addsig]

 

[dingus]

1043529

yeah... maybe i'll try bleeding the steering system... sounds like a good idea. yeah its prolly gonna be a b!tch to get this mud off... oh well! [addsig]