need help with hard steering (3 Viewers)

[edes300]

Need some help trying to diagnose this. I have a 2005 GX470 with 148,000 miles on it. It has progressively developed a heavy steering issue over the past year. The steering at any speed seems heavier than expected it still moves fluid and is not choppy. There is no loud PS pump whine only slight noise when you turn it all the way to the left or right. There are no PS leaks any where and the fluid level is normal. I flushed the fluid and the changed the resivoir with its in built filter with no noticeable improvement. I don't want to just start throwing parts at this does anyone have any suggestions on how I should proceed? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[foreste1]

I just had to replace my steering rack in mine but I have 250k now.

 

[Sixto Lezcano]

I had some steering issues, even after I changed PS fluid. Someone suggested steering rack, there’s a ujoint on shaft you can see from engine bay near battery, I sprayed it with Pb blaster a few days in a row and so far so good. Eventually will replace but fine for now.

 

[edes300]

I thought about the steering shaft but generally when those go bad there is a choppy motion to the steering, this is hard but still fluid like. It doesn't hurt to spray the U joint and see if it helps. I have Deep creep at home i'll try that thanks.

 

[Sixto Lezcano]

I thought about the steering shaft but generally when those go bad there is a choppy motion to the steering, this is hard but still fluid like. It doesn't hurt to spray the U joint and see if it helps. I have Deep creep at home i'll try that thanks.

True, mine was more choppy steering. And I actually used seafoam deep creep, just wrote PB because more well known.

 

[jdevtac]

On my 4Runner that U-joint was pretty crusty, whole vehicle also was pretty rusty in general. Sprayed it with even some weak pb blaster and it’s been night and day difference in steering feel.

 

[Clickws]

Be sure you are using Dex III ATF in that power steering reservoir, not power steering fluid...

 

[edes300]

So I decided to take a chance and replace my power steering pump, a rebuilt unit was less than 100 dollars and changed the fluid with valvoline synthetic dextron VI. Unfortunately no big change in steering effort although I knew that going in and figured I have nothing to lose except my money and time. I noticed with the front end jacked up in gthe air and turning the wheel it felt just as stiff when the wheels are on the ground. This is with the engine running. Pump is as quiet as can be and I'm certain there is no air in the system.

Its got to be either the rack, or the steering shaft or perhaps all the components are just wearing. Although my mileage is relatively low, my driving is stop and go in a relatively hilly part of Pittsburgh and my daily commute is less than 10 miles round trip. For now I think I'll just monitor the situation till it gets worse. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Siberia2Desert]

Following... my steering is also a pretty stiff and I did replace the fluid but no noticeable improvement. No rust issues since I am in Southwest so I'm not sure what to look for yet. It is not terrible but definitely requires more effort to steer than I'd like.

 

[andyhess]

I've got the exact same problem on my 2005 GX470. Flushing the system helped a bit, but my mechanic thinks it's the rack.

 

[sedonut]

You can look at it as an arm workout, no gym fees. An added bonus is your wife/girlfriend does not want to drive your car because of the heavy steering.

As long as your wife/girlfriend had a nice rack, you're golden.

 

[edes300]

My wife has stopped driving it as a result of the heavy steering.

 

[VSPro9]

True, mine was more choppy steering. And I actually used seafoam deep creep, just wrote PB because more well known.

im having this issue right now. swinging the wheel through the arc, steering will be light for 10*, then maybe 20* of heavy, then light again. did hitting that u joint with the pb blaster help long term?

 

[Sixto Lezcano]

im having this issue right now. swinging the wheel through the arc, steering will be light for 10*, then maybe 20* of heavy, then light again. did hitting that u joint with the pb blaster help long term?

It’s been fine but I have sprayed that joint again once or twice. Whenever I’m spraying a part with deep creep I just remember to spray the joint too. Since last post I did replace cv axles and got another alignment as well.

 

[Rednexus]

I'm also having this issue, and a PS fluid flush did nothing to make it go away. Unfortunately, my last off-road expedition resulted in a weird low-speed clunking noise that kind of tracks with steering wheel movement. I had my wife turn the wheel while I was outside and noticed the whole steering rack is moving, so the bushings are shot. I ordered a reman Cardone rack from Rock Auto ($243 plus core). Hopefully this fixes the hard steering issue too. In researching online, rack replacement seems like kind of a PITA - it will be my first project for the Christmas break.

 

[VSPro9]

I'm also having this issue, and a PS fluid flush did nothing to make it go away. Unfortunately, my last off-road expedition resulted in a weird low-speed clunking noise that kind of tracks with steering wheel movement. I had my wife turn the wheel while I was outside and noticed the whole steering rack is moving, so the bushings are shot. I ordered a reman Cardone rack from Rock Auto ($243 plus core). Hopefully this fixes the hard steering issue too. In researching online, rack replacement seems like kind of a PITA - it will be my first project for the Christmas break.

update: borrowed some pb blaster from one of the maintenance guys at work, went out and sprayed the U-Joint, cycled the steering back and forth a few times then drove it around. 100% improvement.

 

[edes300]

I decided to take a chance and I replaced the intermediate steering shaft. This fixed my problem. There was a definite difference in the articulation of the U joint.
Total pain in the but job to do though. Very hard to get it off the steering rack. Only problem now is that my steering pump is off about a half a turn. I really tried for that not to happen but it still did.
I’m thinking about just taking of the wheel and putting it to the new center but not sure if that’s a good idea. Don’t feel like taking the shaft off again but I’ll do it if i have to. By the way I found that oil cap deep down around that area. When The car was under warranty I used to take it to the dealer for oil changes. I guess they lost the cap during one of them.

 

[edes300]

Went back in for second try this morning got it almost straight now still off slightly to the left instead of way off to the right.

I’m thinking now to just take it in for alignment it was due for that anyways. Other option would be to move the steering wheel over one or two spots.

Anyways hard steering is fixed.

 

[edes300]

I'm now having a related problem that I can't seem to fix. My VSC OFF, TRAC OFF, and skid warning lights are on since I changed the steering shaft. After I got the alignment done I assumed redoing the Zero Point Calculation would fix the problem but I'm stuck in this process. I can't get the VSC TRAC warning lights to blink in test mode. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[jiggletits]

If you move your steering wheel out of alignment with the wheels your clock spring could be effected and either be damaged or limit your steering. I would suggest re-orienting the shaft where the issue is.

Also no surprise on the dash lights. You might need techstream to know for sure what is going on.