POWER STEERING VERY STIFF

The power steering is stiff on my 70 Duster,it also screeches some on full lock, any ideas on what the problem could be ?
Mike

Slipping belt it sounds like.

Checked and tightened the belt, checked the fluid level, lifted the front up took the cap off the reservoir, turned it lock to lock a number of times to get any air out, it's still the same.
Mick

Restricted hose? Are sure the belt is not glazed?

Belt looks ok but how can i tell? how do i check the hoses, take them off and blow through them with an airline ?
When i go lock to lock with the wheels off the ground, it feels like it's goes tighter in places.
Mick

I would say either your pump is not putting out pressure or the gear it tight. The best way (and maybe the only) to diag is to check the pump pressure out put that probably none of us have, the back yard daignois is to replace the pump and see if it fixes it if not it's the gear. Of course if there is an obvious binding in the gear that might be the place to start but a pump is much easier, cheaper and more available.

Hows the steering with the tires off the ground and the car not running? Is it smooth lock to lock? If it is then I would not think the gear is tight?

There's a belt dressing that can be sprayed on belts to help them stop slipping. Or it maybe cheaper better to replace the belt to be sure?

Obviously, i haven't a gauge to test the pressure, i was going to take the hoses off and blow them through with an airline and i might pump the old fluid out and replace it with new and then bleed it through as the car stood a long while before i bought it.
The steering wheel is slightly harder to turn with the engine off and feels like it's binding in places,if you get hold of the road wheel and try to turn the steering it wont move.
Mick

Back the adjuster out on the top of the box and see if it gets better. Perhaps a previous owner tried to adjust all the play out of the wheel with the engine off and screwed it in too far. DAMHIK.

Kevin.

In my Dart manual it tells you to release the pitman arm untill you have backlash and then tighten it?
I have released the pitman arm from the steering and there's nothing binding in the rest of the steering.
Mick

I doubt if it is the centering valve sounds like a problem with fluid thickness Have you greased the front end recently?

I can turn the road wheel by hand easily when the pitman arm is disconnected and the joints are greased and dont look that old but as regards the binding on the steering wheel, that may be down to the piece of [Edited by Moparts - Family Friendly Site - Keep it clean] steering wheel someone has fitted and i think the parts underneath it are wrong because i had to make a collar to space the boss so it wouldn't bind on the outer section of the column but the downside of that is the centre nut doesn't go on all the way. I thing the press on ring for the horn is too deep for this wheel. However, i dont think it's the problem on the steering box other than it's a touch tight on the steering wheel itself but when it's all connected up, i cant turn the steering by the road wheel when it's jacked up.
Mick

The belt slipping at lock to lock , I would consider that normal as many a car did that . It could possibly be the belt and some trouble with the pump. Did the pump ever run low of fluid? A weak pump and a worn belt would give you the scenario you have now.

I dont know what's been done to the car as i've only had it a few months and most of that time i've spent fixing things. From what i can gather most states in the US dont have any sort of road safety test on old cars and every time i buy one i have to get loads of stuff working. Well i fixed most things but when i took it to be tested they failed it on the steering, the box was loose, that was an easy fix but the power steering not quite so easy, tomorrow i'm going to try turning the pump by hand to see what it's doing, then i'm going to take the return off and drop into a jug and get someone to fire the car up to see if it's pumping ok and if it increases when the steering is turned. From looking online there only seems to be 2 types of pump and i'm hoping my friend will have one.
Mick

Did you say you had the pitman arm off? Jack it up and when you turn the steering wheel it should be very smooth. If it has tight and "herky jerky" spots in it it sounds like someone overtightened the worm gear adjustment on the top of the box. Loosen that up some and see if it gets better.

If this is the same car you replaced the turn signal switch in, here is a thought.

I recently replaced the switch in my D150, pretty sure it is the same switch.

After a short while it developed an awful squeak or screech when the wheel is steered, left or right, coming from the column.

Thinking that I had somehow screwed up the column jacket where the wheel might have been rubbing, I drove it that way for a while, finally pulled the wheel last weekend.

The contact post for the horn, spring loaded, is made from a different, more abrasive looking material than the original, and LOOKS to protrude more toward the wheel, with what feels like a stiffer spring. Slightly.

It had worn a groove into the horn contact ring of the wheel, not deep but definitely "catch a finger nail" deep.

I used a little "grease" on the contact ring, noise gone, horn works.

Is it possible this is dragging on yours?

Try jacking the car up, support it on jack stands under the lower control arms, and perform the left/right tests.

I am thinking some one has "adjusted" the steering box, and has it too tight. Small adjustments can make a big difference. If this is the case, it will feel like you have to move the steering wheel over the nose of a cam lobe when turning away from straight, left or right, and will make the car wander down the road, trying to stay on the cam nose.

Figuratively speaking.

My experience with pumps is, either they work or don't. Allowing for the leakers.

There IS a pressure control valve in the fitting behind the big nut on the pressure side, and it CAN be shimmed to cut pressure, perhaps the PO tried for "firm feel" and got carried away ...

All just food for thought ...

First of all thanks for all your replies. Back to the task in hand, I took the belt off the pump and turned the pulley over by hand and it turned easily and pumped fluid out, i also tried to turn the steering with the road wheel and it wouldn't budge at all and sounded really clunky. Looking at the pot it looked a little twisted, so i've pulled the steering column off the worm gear and then tried to move the steering again with the road wheel, this time it turned smoothly by hand and pumped loads of fluid out where the pipe was off, so i'm thinking that the problem may be in the column.
I haven't took it out yet but could it be the pot that goes onto the worm gear that's the issue ? because there's nothing else i can see, that could cause it to bind ?
I dont think the parts behind the steering wheel are all the correct ones because the nut wont go all the way on, which makes me think that the piece with the horn ring might be too deep, so i might shave a bit off it on the nut side.
Mick

I haven't got the pot off yet because the column is still in the car but the centre piece that goes under the pressed steel cover is none existent. Is there a possibility that the plates inside could be binding inside of the pot, causing the steering to be tight ?
Also, is it possible to get the pot off without taking the column out altogether ?
Mick

I ended up taking the column out and when i took the ind switch retainer plate off the shaft, it turned easily but on closer inspection the spring clip that should sit in front of the upper bearing is missing and the groove for it isn't visible but the bearing is tight on the shaft.
Any ideas ?

Here is another thought. Good to check the column out like you are doing and if it is still stiff, there could be a problem in the power steering box hydraulic valve control causing hydraulic lock. There may be a leaking seal or O ring problem inside the valve. When you turn it one way, the oil from the other side has to go back to the pump. So every time you turn the wheel, oil for the opposite side returns to the pump. This is done in the box valve. The squeal you hear when you reach the steering stop is the relief valve in the pressure system opening to allow the oil to bypass. Since it squeals, that means the pump is putting up pressure so not likely a pump problem. The pump is always pumping oil so the relief valve opens when there is no demand for oil to move the gear box. However, many cars squeal like that at the stop. I think you may have a sticky relief valve or oil bypassing inside the control valve on the gear box which will create pressure on both sides of the control valve rather than at one side at a time. This is called hydraulic locking. You cannot have pressure on both side at the same time and be able to move it easily, but you can still move it. Would be kind of like trying to steer power steering with the motor off, very hard to turn. If it has been sitting a long time this is very possible. The parts are cheap and likely a bit of labour can cure the problem. A gear box seal and gasket set should have those parts all in the kit.

I replaced the K member in my Charger about a year and a half ago. The original K was fine. I welded a spare and added a skid plate to it. These changes were made to go along with the torque boxes and frame connectors in the interest of reducing flex in the car.
The car steered harder after the K member swap. The wheel didn't easily return to center after turning and I thought something was amiss. About a month afterwards, I noticed that the steering column collar was off center. The column has some adjustment at the firewall and I had mine out of whack. The inner collar and the outer were in contact, causing resistance. I adjusted it and all if fine now.

Thanks,i will bear that in mind. The bearing is solid on the shaft, what could have caused this ?
Mick

I've got the casing off and in front of the locking mech for the ign switch is a tin cup which covers it, then the rear spring clip and in front of that is a small collar before the bearing and it covers the front receiver groove, Should the small collar go on the other side of the bearing to space the press on horn ring away from the ind switch ?
See pic

I have rebuilt the coupler but there is only a very small gap between the coupler and the outer part of the column, it's about 1/2". Does this seem right ?
Bear in mind it's got power steering. I'm also cursing because i put the top section together first and it's difficult to get the cover clipped on, is there a knack to it.
Mick