shaking/ vibration when i turn the steering wheel

So i recently had broken a sway bar link, i have been driving on it for quite a while since i didn't notice it. well last night i went out and replaced it. then i dropped the truck down onto the ground and went for a test drive to get gas. i then noticed when ever i turned the wheel no matter which way that my truck would start to shake and the steering wheel would get mildly tighter and shake a lot. im starting to think its the powersteering pump since if i rev the engine it stops, and it only does it when theres added stress I.E. slow turns, down hill turns, up hill turns, it doesn;t do it as much as fast turns. and i also noticed i can turn the tires in and out by hand with very little effort when its jacked up. if anyone had this problem please tell me what u think it is, or if it is the powersteering pump.

thanks,

brandon

Take the cover off the power steering resevoir
Have a helper start the truck
Have helper turn the wheel all the way to the right and hold it there for just a second or two
Have helper turn wheels all the way to the left, hold it there for a second or two
Add fluid as necessary
Repeat until you do not see any more air being ejected out of the power steering resevoir
Refill power steering fluid, recap, enjoy

It may take up to ten minutes to complete this, its air in your power steering system caused by having the front of the truck elevated (such as on a jack or jackstand) and turning the wheels without running the engine.

my pos mounty said:

Take the cover off the power steering resevoir
Have a helper start the truck
Have helper turn the wheel all the way to the right and hold it there for just a second or two
Have helper turn wheels all the way to the left, hold it there for a second or two
Add fluid as necessary
Repeat until you do not see any more air being ejected out of the power steering resevoir
Refill power steering fluid, recap, enjoy

It may take up to ten minutes to complete this, its air in your power steering system caused by having the front of the truck elevated (such as on a jack or jackstand) and turning the wheels without running the engine.

Click to expand...

really? wow that is something that i would have NEVER evan thought about. i am deffiantly going to try this for sure! when i turn it all the way to the right/ left i just hold it there for a few seconds and then release it and fill it up?

thank you for the quick and very very helpful reply!

Don't just fill it up in the end, fill as needed to keep the power steering pump from sucking in any more air, but do not overfill it either.

Anytime I do any type of work to the front end of my truck I do this as these trucks are notorious for getting air in the steering lines if you move the wheels while the truck is off. I've had it happen to me twice before and the shaking was quite violent. Follow Mounty's advice and you will be fine!

hmmmm

i think it might be dry ball joints. my 95 did this and when i put it up and hit the ball joints with some grease it went away. they are worn a bit so it needs it every once in awhile. hope this helps if its not air in the line:smoke:

well il be darned! i haven't been able to get on here in awhile so sorry for the delay... but the air in the line was deffiantly the reall problem. i just did it myself poped the cap off moved wheel around alot back and forth etc. and then topped it off. turns like a champ!!

Me 2!

Working on my son's exp, replaceng the drivers side hub / bearing assy.

Scared the crap out of me - thought I'd goofed something up!

But you were right on the money.

I wish the hub was...

Whewwww!

Excellent! Thanks for posting this! I replaced both inner\outer tie-rods, upper control arms, and lower ball joints on my son's 2005 ford ranger. I tried real hard to get everything back to factory by counting turns on threads on outer tie-rods, and scribing locations of upper control arm cam locations to make it easier on front end allignment mechanic. Took truck for a spin and shudder when making turns. First thing I thought was I messed something up but luckly it was air in the reservoir.

i remember when i had the transmissionr eplaced on my explorer, went for a r/t hit a bump and the mother ####er just went CRAZY, wheel shaking by the #### it scared me hahahahaha
Just air in there minor!

it worked

I took the part steering cap off and turned the wheel a few times and it worked perfectly. It took about five minutes and is better than ever.

I want to say - thank you!!! I know this is an older post, but I found it and it fixed my problem perfectly. I did a whole lot of front end work - didnt have a problem. Bought new tires - came with a life time alignment - aligned perfectly .... Never any issue with the power steering. Went 4x4 ing Outer tie rods went out - jacked it up to replace those .... Wham ... Violent shaking!!! I'm talking like the steering shook the truck turning left and right. I honestly thought the rack and pinion went out;however, when I was doing my outer tie rods I had no fluid - no clicking - no movement on the inner tie rods. I then thought hard and realized it was acting like a bad hydraulic system some how. I dumped the fluid and replaced it with new - pulled the fuel pump relay - and used the starter to prime the system and get fluid levels set. I started the truck and the same issue. In pure frustration I started surfing the web, came across this post, and realized I needed patience and just started working the steering left and right - it did eventually clear up - my scenario was over 20 minutes. I new it was air because if I ran the idle up to 3000 rpm the steering shudder and shake mellowed out. I also noticed that when turning left and right - you find a shudder spot - hang out there for a bit moving the steering wheel really quickly over that spot only for about a minute or two. This problem also came back after I pushed the truck to the side of the road after the motor stalled and died. I had really low fuel pressure - replaced the filter and it fired right up. Again this shudder and shaking - I guess it sucked air in the system from us turning the tires without the motor running. This explorer is a great rig - it has picky moments that can really make you scratch your head - I just past 151000 miles - my friend has over 301000 - its worth learning how to fix them.

So far I've miraculously escaped this phenomenon.

At times I've worked on the front suspension, changed shocks and never had a problem.

Recently not far from home I blew a radiator hose so I mostly rolled home without the engine on, starting and running for short hops and I still didn't get air in the system.

Just lucky.

my pos mounty said:

Take the cover off the power steering resevoir
Have a helper start the truck
Have helper turn the wheel all the way to the right and hold it there for just a second or two
Have helper turn wheels all the way to the left, hold it there for a second or two
Add fluid as necessary
Repeat until you do not see any more air being ejected out of the power steering resevoir
Refill power steering fluid, recap, enjoy

It may take up to ten minutes to complete this, its air in your power steering system caused by having the front of the truck elevated (such as on a jack or jackstand) and turning the wheels without running the engine.

Click to expand...

Just want to thank "my pos mounty". I left my lights on and tried to pop the clutch and turned the steering wheel many times. Major shaking at several speeds. Burped the ps pump and whadda ya know. I could of been looking for days for that problem.

Most any kind of front end work where the hub is manually turned will require a few stop-to-stop left and right rotations. Pretty common occurrence actually. I usually just find and open parking lot and do a few full deflection figure 8's in each direction. Then top off the fluid. Works like a charm. Of course, until you find out about this little necessity the first shaking occurrence can scare the bejesus out of you! It did me.

Hey guys I'm not a explorer driver but a ranger driver. I hope that is okay.
A few weeks ago I had my truck towed. The fuel pump needed to be replaced and it wouldn't turn on.
So I get the work done and the mechanic tells me the truck shakes violently for an unknown reason when turning
He said he couldn't figure out the problem but I might need to replace the power steering pump and rack.
Could this possibly fix my problem?
I was so happy when I found this I'm actually going to try this tomorrow.
It shakes and rattles violently when I make sharp turns
Could the truck being moved while off and in neutral have done this?
Thanks!
And again I apologize if i'm not allowed to post on here!

NorthBayTruck said:

Hey guys I'm not a explorer driver but a ranger driver. I hope that is okay.
A few weeks ago I had my truck towed. The fuel pump needed to be replaced and it wouldn't turn on.
So I get the work done and the mechanic tells me the truck shakes violently for an unknown reason when turning
He said he couldn't figure out the problem but I might need to replace the power steering pump and rack.
Could this possibly fix my problem?
I was so happy when I found this I'm actually going to try this tomorrow.
It shakes and rattles violently when I make sharp turns
Could the truck being moved while off and in neutral have done this?
Thanks!
And again I apologize if i'm not allowed to post on here!

Click to expand...

Yes, when it was inoperative the tow truck driver and/or the mechanic probably turned the steering wheel with the engine off to get the truck on the tow truck or into the shop. Doing this sucks air into the rack seals and you get the symptoms you describe. No big deal. Follow the procedure to force the air out (slow figure 8's turning the steering wheel from lock-to-lock multiple times). I guess your mechanic doesn't work on Fords much, or he's trying to hit you up for an expensive/unnecessary repair.

Thank you fellas

I did exactly as you guys suggested and fixed the problem
Saved me around $900

koda2000 said:

Yes, when it was inoperative the tow truck driver and/or the mechanic probably turned the steering wheel with the engine off to get the truck on the tow truck or into the shop. Doing this sucks air into the rack seals and you get the symptoms you describe. No big deal. Follow the procedure to force the air out (slow figure 8's turning the steering wheel from lock-to-lock multiple times). I guess your mechanic doesn't work on Fords much, or he's trying to hit you up for an expensive/unnecessary repair.

Click to expand...

Ok but when I do this figure 8 motion do I need the cap off and then fill back to the top as needed?

Another way to purge air if you don't want to look crazy is do it on smooth wet concrete or grass and turn lock-to-lock repeatedly. Don't ever hold the wheel hard on the steering stops, just turn until you touch stops and reverse direction. Easiest and cheapest "fix" EVER.