Possibly. You could always change the fluid and see if it helps. Do you recall the last time you changed it? If you go this route make sure to purge all the air.

I had a whine to my power steering pump for a long time. Then I pulled the engine and ended up putting fresh fluid in and it no longer whines and is still working to this day. As far as I know, it's the stock pump that came with it in '93.

 

I have had the Jeep for just over 20k miles, and have never changed the fluid, the Jeep has 185k miles on it. The steering pump does not wine unless you hold the wheel against the steering stop.

 

Check your knuckles along the steering shaft and have someone turn the wheel so you can check for binding. Check all your steering linkage for loose or broken ball joints and tie rod ends.

When was the last time you pumped some grease in your ball joints and tie rod ends? If you never have, get a tube of Royal Purple Grease and pump it in there till you see "Royal Purple coming out.

 

I have had someone go lock to lock several times while watching the front end, nothing seems to be binding or loose. The tie rod will rotate up or down when turning but I am assuming that is normal (it is minimal).

The tie rod movement is similar to this but not nearly as dramatic, and there is no associated clunk like in this video. (NOT MY JEEP)

It seems like if something was binding it would be noticeable with the Jeep off when going lock to lock, the only time the steering is doing this is with the Jeep running. Today with weight on the front axle dry steering lock to lock the stiffness was very noticeable, then with the Jeep off dry steering lock to lock it was a consistent and smooth action. With the front axle on jack stands and the Jeep running the stiffness was significantly reduced but still noticeable, with the jeep off the steering was smooth and consistent.

 

This is exactly what I was experiencing. It was also the culprit that was causing a bit of the good ole' DW. I just installed the "Cure" and all better now.

 

If you have smooth steering with the jeep off, then its "chunky" with it on. I would definitely start with pump and work from there. Im sure you already checked your lines for leaks, so the next step I would suck out as much Power Steering fluid and replace it with some Royal Purple Max Ez. If that doesn't fix and even though it seems they are rather expensive I wouldn't hesitate to get a new pump.

 

"The Cure" defiantly helped my steering too. Although I never had a DW.

 

Is this the "cure" http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/R2008.html and are you saying the tie rod rotating can cause intermittent stiff steering only when the Jeep is running? I only have a very small dead spot in the steering wheel and it does not really wander.

 

This was my experience as well, it solved my issue with a perceived dead spot when it was really the tie rod rolling. Hell, for $20 it is worth a shot

your link is correct with what I ordered

 

Just got done flushing/changing the power steering fluid, there was quite a bit of metal shaving in it. With the new fluid in the steering seems to be back to normal, hopefully it stays that way.

 

Just got back from a drive, now there is a tight spot just off center in both directions (about 1/8th of a turn) and when making a turn it is tight when you begin to turn the wheel back to center (again about an 1/8th of a turn). There is also a small pop when turning the wheel back to center after making a left hand corner. Other than that the steering is normal.

Is it maybe the steering box failing?

 

So the slight popping noise is from the output shaft of the steering box moving laterally. Reading online there should be no lateral play in the steering box output shaft? I am going to go ahead and pickup a new steering box.

 

Good call. I think it's the easiest thing to do at this point. Make sure to anti-seize every bolt you take out and put back in.

 

I'd still squirt the ujoints in the steering shaft with ATF. I had a similar issue with weird "effort" variance, but after three heavy doses of ATF on the steering shaft ujoints I'm still fine over a year later. I spent a lot of time on that until I realized it wasn't actually power steering related. Having junk jeeps on hand makes one change parts too quickly.

 

I pulled the steering box out and ended up separating the steering shaft, the top u joint is completely seized. Then when I put the steering shaft back together it took a lot of effort and now it is too compressed to get back into the Jeep. So I just ordered a new one for $95 off of Amazon. So yeah I am assuming the box was not the cause, but by the time I found out about the steering shaft I already had the box out so put the new one in hoping it fixes the output shaft play.

 

I will squirt the ujoints for good measure, but I am hoping the steering box fixes the problem. It should be in tomorrow morning.

 

It can't hurt to replace 20+ year old parts, especially since you already have it out:

 

I pulled the steering box out and ended up separating the steering shaft, the top u joint is completely seized. Then when I put the steering shaft back together it took a lot of effort and now it is too compressed to get back into the Jeep. So I just ordered a new one for $95 off of Amazon. So yeah I am assuming the box was not the cause, but by the time I found out about the steering shaft I already had the box out so put the new one in hoping it fixes the output shaft play.

Good that you found it.

Me? I'm dumb and broke, so I beat on stuff and lube things I probably should replace LOL but I often fix stuff. I just knew your symptoms sounded familiar. While I got mine loosened up like I said I probably should have just replaced it.

 

I had similar issue, steering wheel would get really stiff and then free up. It seemed to be related to the position of the steering wheel. The steering wheel would get so stiff you could hardly turn it and then it would free up and work well. Power steering was full and had no leaks. No noises in the steering or the pump. Checked the steering shaft and noticed it was rusty and the slip joint looked rusty and seized. Replaced with Dorman 425-247 steering shaft and verified the steering bushing was good while I had it a part. Took Jeep for a test drive and it went beautiful. 1995 Jeep Wrangler YJ, 167,000 miles 6cyl 4.0 manual.

 

It sounds like you have it resolved and am glad to hear that.

There were many good suggestions on here and the problem you had can be anywhere from the steering wheel out to the wheels. Any moving part binding such as a column bearing to a tie rod, ball joint, axle shaft U-joint, intermediate steering shaft, etc.

One thing I never saw mentioned though was the belt. Not all slipping belts make noise and can be easily overlooked. A very worn and oil saturated drive belt can slip all day long and never make a noise. Kind of a rant but I recently saw a young tech put a steering gear and a PS pump in a vehicle for a no PS on cold start condition. It did not change a thing. I asked if his belts were tight. He said the PS belt was tighter than a banjo string. Went down to help him, yep.... It was..... The belt that turned the water pump which was where the PS belt drove from was looser than any woman that a proud man would want to call his own. JS.

This one seems to have worked out but hoping that anybody who refers to this thread down the road for a solution does not forget the belt as a very basic and important part of the repair or diagnostic process. Components with loose belts can sometimes be spun by hand or with not a lot of force using a wrench. They do not always make noise. They can also cause charging problems, overheating problems, etc. It just seemed to never be addressed in this thread that I saw and I have seen this overlooked over and over in my career.

:rantoff: