lordoeuf
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Vancouver Island
Is it typical to have power steering issues during winter months while the Jeep is cool, but fine once it is at operating temperature? I live in a mild climate, so daytime highs are usually 5 - 9 C during winter.
I have a '99 XJ 5-speed, and am using the stock automatic transmission cooler as a power steering cooler (mainly because I have a PowerTrax no-slip locker in the front diff). I'm using 3/8" transmission cooler hoses and hose clamps for the power steering cooler. Length to and from the trans. cooler is about 4.5' each way. I have a '98 Durango gear box that I rebuilt and a Lee Power Steering pump.
I am noticing that when I first leave the garage to get the kids from school, the steering is a little stiff, but by the time I return home, it has loosen up and the Jeep drives as I would expect. Is the power steering cooler somehow causing air to get into the system, or keeping the fluid too cool causing cavitation? I read on google that this issue isn't all that uncommon during the winter when you have a power steering cooler, but I don't know how true this is. I park the Jeep in a garage that stays at about 16 C in winter and outside isn't that cold.
Any idea how to fix this? I would like easy turning right when I leave the garage. I added about a 1/8 a bottle of Blue Devil Power Steering Leak stop thinking that perhaps the change in temperatures is causing some air to get past a fitting, but it didn't solve anything. I don't have any visible leaks. Perhaps there are other conditioners I should use that will solve the problem?
If the vehicle is cool and I start it up with the reservoir cap off, I don't see any bubbles coming up when turning the wheel. With the car cool, I can also raise the front wheels off the ground and turn the steering wheel lock-to-lock like a mad man about 20 times. This definitely causes bubbles to appear in the reservoir, but if I turn the vehicle on and drive out at this point, the steering feels fine.
I have a '99 XJ 5-speed, and am using the stock automatic transmission cooler as a power steering cooler (mainly because I have a PowerTrax no-slip locker in the front diff). I'm using 3/8" transmission cooler hoses and hose clamps for the power steering cooler. Length to and from the trans. cooler is about 4.5' each way. I have a '98 Durango gear box that I rebuilt and a Lee Power Steering pump.
I am noticing that when I first leave the garage to get the kids from school, the steering is a little stiff, but by the time I return home, it has loosen up and the Jeep drives as I would expect. Is the power steering cooler somehow causing air to get into the system, or keeping the fluid too cool causing cavitation? I read on google that this issue isn't all that uncommon during the winter when you have a power steering cooler, but I don't know how true this is. I park the Jeep in a garage that stays at about 16 C in winter and outside isn't that cold.
Any idea how to fix this? I would like easy turning right when I leave the garage. I added about a 1/8 a bottle of Blue Devil Power Steering Leak stop thinking that perhaps the change in temperatures is causing some air to get past a fitting, but it didn't solve anything. I don't have any visible leaks. Perhaps there are other conditioners I should use that will solve the problem?
If the vehicle is cool and I start it up with the reservoir cap off, I don't see any bubbles coming up when turning the wheel. With the car cool, I can also raise the front wheels off the ground and turn the steering wheel lock-to-lock like a mad man about 20 times. This definitely causes bubbles to appear in the reservoir, but if I turn the vehicle on and drive out at this point, the steering feels fine.