eng bay heat would not cause this. & when you turn the st wheel from lock to lock I'm assuming it is tight/binding at some point? I would buy/rent a puller to pull the pitman (its cheap) which would elim the rest of the suspension as the culprit (if it still is acting up) which it is likely the box & it does need to come off for the FSM procedure.
Checked for lube, and it certainly wasn't packed with grease, in fact it's hard to tell, but it looks like they may have used a super heavy gear oil or either grease that has liquified somewhat. The ridges of the worm gear were coated after turning the steering lock to lock.
Speaking of which, this morning with the car on the ground with full weight on on the wheels lock to lock twice, no bind or issues. This is confusing for sure....
Mattax - there isn't three inches of slop, it seems as I may have exaggerated in my original post. Just a little side to at the steering wheel, and inch or two max, and it's not that it's even slop, you can even see the tires responding ever so slightly in the 'slop zone'.... Every piece on the car is new including the front end.
This binding or tightness just happened the last time out, the first few hundred miles were trouble free....
I may get the car out on the slow streets today or tomorrow and see if I get any repeats.
Suggestions??
