Power Steering Problems

[lawnsalot]

My F350 Crew Cab King Ranch 8 foot bed continues to give me fits with the power steering, dealer says that the steering does not have a problem even when it takes two hands and some real upper body strenth to turn the wheel with brake partially pressed. Very hard steering at 25 degree f. until it warms up. Putting the trans in netural and increasing RPM does not help the steering problem. Any ideas/ Less that 10k miles. i think the power steering pump is not producting the necessary pressure for steering and brakes.

Second part; does anyone know what the boost pressuse should be for this model? I stillthink i have a powering steering pump problem.

[uhpilot]

I'm curious about this also.

Should a 250 be hard to turn the tires while sitting still. My truck is impossible to turn the wheels while just sitting still, I mean the steering wheel will turn some but the tires hardly move and when you let go of the steering wheel it spins back to it original posistion (or at least close to it).

After I drive it a while then stop the tires do turn some at a stop. It seems to turn fine as soon as I start rolling though.

It actually did this when I first test drove it but I chalked this up to the big tires on the truck. But I'm also starting to smell some burnt rubber smell from under the hood. I found some rubber "droppings" on top of my idler pulley assy. Could this be because the pump is locking up and the belt it skidding around it.

Or are they fairly hard to turn with big tires by nature.


Ricky

[lightninmike]

Well if your finding "droppings" or "dust" as we in the Lightning world call it then it is almost deff the belt slipping. I had this problem a bit with the stock supercharger on my truck from time to time. But on these truck "psd that is" if something is slipping i dont think that is a good thing

[lawnsalot]

I had the truck back to the dealer again, they said that the pump pressue was ok and that all the units with the tow and haul mode drive like this. I just cannot believe that Ford would design this to be this hard to steer. Almost impossible to back a trailer at slow speeds, you need to be moving to turn the wheels with partial braking. I plan ontaking it back for the fourth time.

[Bruce Johnson]

Does not sound normal to me. How do the brakes feel?

[lawnsalot]

OK, I wish they were a little firmer. Had one panic stop with loader trailer (no brakes onthe trailer) in tow haul mode and pedal went almost to the floor but i did stop and it did downshift correctly.

[2006KR]

Originally Posted by lawnsalot

they said that the pump pressue was ok and that all the units with the tow and haul mode drive like this.

Find a new dealer, one that preferably knows what the h3ll they are talking about. Tow/Haul and Power Steering are two totally separate animals.

A note though as I was reading thru the posts. It is VERY HARD on the steering linkage to be turning your wheels while not moving ... relate it to having rubber pads under the feet of a grand piano and trying to slide it. Puts a lot of unnecessary stress and strain on you and the furnature.

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Last edited by 2006KR : 02-27-2007 at 12:47 PM. Reason: remove all but revelent info in 'quote'

[Bruce Johnson]

Thats right. Haul / tow mode is definately not connected with steering or brakes but the brakes and steering are run by the same power steering pump. That is why I asked how the power assist on the brakes were reacting. If the brakes don't feel right then I would definately look to a p/s pump as the problem. I would also comment that the pump may be ok but a valve in the ps gear could be at fault if the brakes feel ok. You should be able to turn the wheel with ease no matter what tires you have on the front.

[Jon]

This is pretty common on these trucks when they get up in milage. Its the powersteering pump most of the time. If you have brake issues but no steering it could be the hydro boost.

[uhpilot]

I didn't know that the brakes and the power steering where connected. That's why I joined here, for all the helpful info.

My brakes work fine, real good actually but the brake pedal in my new truck seems to be 3-4 inches higher than my other truck. When I first drove the truck I thought it had adjustable pedals that were adjusted closer to the driver. But nope.

Is there a way to adjust the pedal down