Alright everyone, I need your help. Yesterday I noticed some groaning in the wheel when turning but it was late. This morning the power steering groan was REALLY bad when turning the wheel at all. I stopped and checked for a noticeable leak and didn't see anything. The fluid level was just at the bottom of the dip stick so I stopped and put some ATF in to top it off. On the way home, about 2 miles, the groaning while turning was immediately gone, however, there is a weird groan type vibration in the steering wheel almost a second after letting off the accelerator while driving. While maintaining speed there is no noise or vibration, only when letting off the gas. I know I need to turn the steering wheel back and forth on jack stands and check to make sure it is topped of, but does anyone know what else this could be?

 

Bad pump?

 

Lower Ball joints? It's usually the last warning before they pop out.

ball-joint-failure-my-turn

 

I have the same issue but mine only does it when I'm backing up. If the car is in reverse and sitting still and turn the wheel I get vibrations in the steering wheel also. But if I'm in drive or moving its perfectly fine. I flushed the system out and put new in but still the same thing.

 

4Runner Joe - yours sounds like ball joints to me. I've had them do that before...and it only did it in reverse too. I thought it was the brakes trying to bind up that would make the noise and it ended up being the ball joints.

Double Tap - yours sounds like the pump might be going bad to me too. Maybe bearings gone bad in it. Do you notice it more when the engine is cold?

 

The rough sensation in the steering wheel is not from the pump. The pump is bolted to the motor. The roughnes is from binding in the steering mechanism. Again, check your ball joints. Also, you have to check it by lifting from under the ball joint. The stud faces up and is always under tension until it breaks free. In later trucks they changed the design so the stud points down and is compressed into the socket as opposed to being pulled apart.

 

If the pump is malfunctioning wouldn't you still feel that in the steering wheel? I'm just thinking that if the pump is surging/pulsing fluid down to the steering gear box it would cause that feeling.

If the pump stops working all together you'd feel that in the steering wheel, wouldn't you? I also think the fact that he added fluid to the pump and noticed an immediate change is a clear indicator it's not the ball joints. It certainly won't hurt to check the ball joints though.

 

I would suspect the groan when he lets off the gas is due to the change in force applied to the ball joints. The pump would whine if it was failing. His is a groan in the steering wheel. Also, when the vehicle is moving, the force require to steer it drops exponentially. In the old days of "manual" steering, it was near impossible to turn the wheels while stopped but get the car rolling and its not so bad. He gets a groan in the steering wheel while driving that changes with throttle on/off. Remember, the engine is still spinning at 1500-2000 rpms even when decellerating, That's ample rpm to run the PS pump. If the pump was disconnected I would think the effort to turn the wheel would increase but still be smooth.

The other possibility is the rack has metal bits binding the piston but since there are no leaks, doubtful.

 

I am having the same problem in my 92 pickup. I have a 3 inch BL so i was thinking it could be the steering extension? I will check my ball joints now though

 

My steering is a little loose as well....

 

Alright, things seem to be a little better this morning. I have new lower ball joints in the garage but am waiting for my new shocks to get in before I tear that all apart. The old ball joints have 200k on them and are original. Needless to say, they look REALLY bad. Process of elimination will figure this out this weekend, one way or the other. I will post the results and take pics.

 

TACO ball-jointsl

 

Find out what your problem was yet?

 

So this past weekend I worked on my 4Runner all day. As you can see from the pics, the original struts have seen better days. The bushings on the shocks and struts were literally destroyed. It looks like almost everything was original. I replaced the lower ball joints, shocks and struts to pro comp ES9000, OME 881/890 springs, sway bar end links, and cleaned everything up. I am sure it was a combination of things but the groaning is completely gone and she rides so smooth. The crazy part was the rear shocks, I had to break the body loose and go between the body and frame to get to the top bolt. If I had known, maybe I would have put a body kit on. LOL. From ground to fender, she sits right at 38" in the front and 38.5" in the rear.

 

I have a similar problem, except it only happens when it's cooler outside. As it gets warmer, the noise goes away, and conversely the noise returns as it gets cooler outside. Even while I'm driving. You can almost only hear it while sitting inside the cab, and I noticed last night that if I apply weight to the steering wheel while turning(pull down or back on it), there is no noise. The power steering pump and reservoir don't leak at all, and the fluid looks clean and doesn't smell burnt. It's not a whine like a pump bearing going out. It's more like an extremely loud creek or groan on old door hinges.

I thought at first it might by my ball joints too, but they were replaced only a few thousand miles ago...say 3 or 4 thousand, maybe a hair more.

Are there any bearings on the steering shaft before connects to the steering box, or any sort of bushings inside the steering column? It's a God awful scary noise, and drives me nuts! Anyone got any ideas?