I don't understand this,Last year I replaced the cylinder,valve and hoses 'cause it was leaking fluid and the steering wheel was hard to turn.

Wans't leaking anymore but was still hard to turn.Figured it had to be the pump.Bought a pump and just finished installing it,with new pressure and return hose while I was at it again...Start the car and turn the steering wheel and she's still stiff as heck.

What am I missing? Getting very frustrated with this

 

Is it hard to turn both ways or just one way? Did you adjust the PS valve? Here's the trouble shooting chart from the service manual which may help.

 

thanks...it is harder to turn to the right...looking at troubleshooting now

 

If all that don't fix it, remove the pressure relief spring from the old pump and put it in the new pump. It is located in front of where the high pressure hose connects to the pump. Remove the fitting and there it is.

 

And the vavle is brand new from last year and I checked for calibration and all is good.

 

Ya I don't know if that would fix the problem 'cause I had the stiff problem with the old pump

 

Did you x the hoses at the power steering control valve? If you didn’t then this might be the problem. The pressure hoses that run from the power steering cylinder to the power steering valve should make an x as pictured at this link.

http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=24463
Did you x the hose's?

 

A'hem....Clearing my throat here...

I had this very same issue last winter; did you have your stering box rebuilt before &/or during this "hard to steer" episode?

If so, you probably had exactly the same thing as I. The guy who rebuilt the box was labelled by many around here as "Thee Guy" as he had been doing these Saginaw boxes for 3 decades...Well, maybe he has and maybe he IS the man...But not on mine . He had overtightened the zero-set on the steering box. Of course I was livid and pi$$ed why my car was hard as h#ll to steer after a costly steering box rebuild, so...I replaced the PS Pump, the PS contol valve, the cylinder, the lines...Just to find out (many dollars later) that the Steering box was poorly set. So, this whole month long dilema set me back quite a few dollars.

CHECK the POWER STEERING BOX!

Andy

 

yup

 

you make a good point,The steering box is original and I don't know if has been touched before or not.It will make 2 years that I own the car and I noticed that I have some slack in the box.I know that the screw on top is for the adjustment,I tried tightening it but I can only make about 1/8 of a turn.Are there any other adjustments on that box?

 

Don't tighten the screw. Adjust it. It is adjusted to take out the backlash when you change the turning direction with the steering wheel. It should not be tight.

 

OK.....Just got back from a ride with the vette and this is just insane on how the steering is stiff....Actually seems worse then before.

I go into a turn and I sometimes feel the car will keep going straight 'cause it's so tight.It also seems to be stiffer turning to the right,and I re-adjusted the valve.

Very confused here and agrivated

 

Is it hard to turn standing still? How about with the wheels off the ground? Maybe a brake caliper is dragging.

 

it is hard turning the wheel when standing still and moving...I remember last year when I first installed the valve and cylinder,I lifted the front of the car and the steering was really easy to turn.But when I dropped it back down,it was pretty stiff.....

 

With the front wheels off the ground, can you center the valve?

It sounds like there is an internal problem with the power steering control valve. It’s possible the valve is not assembled properly which would also cause these same results.

Even if you can center the valve, this is not assurance that there is not a problem inside of it.

The steering should be carefree, with little effort when everything is correct.

I think that if you are positive the power steering pump is not the issue, the cylinder is good, the box is good, no pinched or crossed hoses, then the only thing it leaves is the valve. The only thing that goes bad on the cylinder is that they wear out in the shaft and the seals leak when old.

I would pull the valve out of the car and tear it down.

I have detailed exploded views of the valve I can post if you tear it down and want to know what it’s supposed to look like.

You may have a seal inside the valve that is backwards, or the valve may not be assembled correctly.

Willcox Inc.

 

Try loosening the adjuster bolt on the steering box, that you said you tightened. See if this loosens up the steering. You can always retighten it a bit (not too tight), if it proves to not be causing the problem.

 

To properly adjust the lash, you have to remove the pitman arm from the car. Loosen the jamb nut on the gear box, then turn the adjuster screw two turns counter clock wise.

Turn the steering wheel to the left until it’s stopped by the gear. Do not turn it so hard that you damage the ball guides inside the gear box. An easy turning to either side will work just fine, but if you just wing it to one side, you’ll mess up the bearing guides inside.

Once you do this then turn the steering wheel back one complete turn. This takes off the load in the box and you can adjust it.

The lash adjustment pull to make the wheel turn should be between 3/8 to 3/4 ft pounds. This is without a load on the gear box!

You can measure this with a fishing scale! Remember you have to have the wheel straight and pull at a 90 degrees when testing from the outer edge of the spoke.

Hope this helps and it’s a sure fire way to know you have the box adjusted properly.

If you have the lash adjusted correct and you turn the wheel and feel a drag, grind or any other tension, then you have a problem in the gear box! I do not advise free hand adjustment of the steering gear box! What seems like a little adjustment at the box can do major damage inside.

Willcox Inc

 

Hmmm...I made sure to buy a brand new VALVE from Willcox's so I wouldn't run into any problems with a rebuilt one.Are you saying this can happen with new valves when they are assembled?

 

I went through the same deal with my power steering. Over the years I replaced the cylinder (twice) and the ram (twice) and it still didn't feel like power steering. I replaced the pump with a rebuilt unit and still had the same problems. Finally I got an AGR power steering pump from Summit and the difference was night and day. The AGR pump made the steering feel almost light. I now run 255x60x15 tires and the steering is lighter than when I had 225x70x15s. I believe that many pumps do not put out the required pressure for our systems due to poor rebuilds, or just plain lack of quality control. My AGR made all the difference in the world and I would recommend it to anyone having hard steering problems.

 

well this sure is starting to get pretty costly $$$$$$$$$$$

I don't know what to think anymore..Should I start at the pump,the valve or whatever....

How can someone check the pressure from the pump?