Bumping in steering wheel after engine reaches operating temperature

[alanjh]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and have a question concerning my 2008 Ford Explorer.

My Explorer steering wheel starts bumping after the engine reaches normal operating temperature. This happens whether the steering wheel is being turned or not.

Has anyone else had this same problem? If so, what was the diagnosis?

Thank you,
alanjh

 

[mvallyman]

To help us you will need to be more descriptive of 'bump" what exactly does it do? Jerks right and left? OR?

Does this happen with vehicle moving or not? slow or fast?

 

[alanjh]

It happens when it's moving, at any speed, whether turning left or right, and it feels like pressure surges. It does not happen when the vehicle has just started, but only after the engine has warmed up.

 

[mvallyman]

If it "bumps" slow when driving slow and speeds up with vehicle speed, its probably a tire problem. I don't think it has anything to do with the engine temp but may be related to tire temperature. Inspect the tires really well, check for lumps in sidewall and tread, curb scrapes on sidewall etc. You may also want to check them after they have warmed up. If you cant find anything wrong, move the fronts to the rear and rears to front and see if the symptom changes, this will also tell you if there is a tire problem that cant be seen such as some tire tread separation issues.

 

[Explorer_PL]

Air pockets in power steering ????

 

[Flag Gibby]

Serpentine belt slipping on the power steering pump pulley?

 

[F SANE IL]

I've never heard of this phrase, "bumping", maybe skipping?

 

[swshawaii]

Air pockets in power steering ????

Ditto. Sounds like air in the system to me. Was the truck recently serviced off the ground? "Shake" is probably a better description.

 

[alanjh]

The tires are fine. From another website, I've determined that the problem is most likely the power steering return line, mainly because the bumping doesn't happen until the engine warms up to normal operating temperature. The "bumps" are actually surges of pressure in the power steering system.
Thanks for your assistance.