lots of issues...

[SkanlaxJMO]

Well guys I was heading home and went for a little detore...ie: puddle hopping(not big puddles surface ones). WEll i pulled out and evreything was fine exept this burning smell(I figured it was burning mud or jsut water in the engine colling and hissing off then I saw a tail of smoke i figured it was steam. Well I wanted to turn and my power sterring was gone( I had the pump replaced along with several fronend components not to long ago). Well it was really stiff but I got it home some how and then when walking into the house I noticed the burning semll and smoke from my hood. So I opened it up and sure enough some came out. I then started it and looked at the temp gauge...normal. I llok in the engine it is really wet but nothing out of the ordinary(it's dark out). I look at the front end nothing abnormal exepth some mud and straw here and there. And the cloud that came out was not from the radiator it was from the bottom of the engine....any sudjestions?
Thanks -John

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

btw it is a 96 xlt 4.0 OHV 122,000 miles on orginal engine and Tranny.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Well your exhaust/manifolds run under your engine kind of it, might of been water and some stuff sittin on there and burning off. If you start it up again and it starts to burn after it heats up...that could be a good cause of it - look for any debris.

-Drew

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

I just looked.....no debreis of any kind.....I opend the hoop and the valvecover?(the thing with the 4.0 on it) looks like somthing got spilled all over it. An there is a puddle of purple ish looking fluid on the driveway(it is now dry) mzaby the power steering fluid hose came out of the pump?

 

[marragtop]

I think your first post said you lost your power steering. If so, check your PS fluid level. If it's empty, no sense if filling it back up until you know where the leak is. Check both hoses.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

thats what im doing...when it gets light...when power steering hits a hot block does it burn and smell real bad?

 

[Toy_to_Force]

would like to know the outcome. i too have experienced something simular. my steering gets suddenly stiff comes and goes. replaced power steering pump seems better but still an issue. i used to be able to palm the wheel now i can't.

 

[white95explorer]

Power steering fluid will burn and smell if it hits the block or gets on the belts. I have had PS fluid get on belts, exhaust manifolds, and engine block at different times from filling the resevior up (i am a mechanic) and when it burns smells kinda like any other oil burning. If the fluid was kinda a puple color it very well maybe your PS fluid. 96 and later Explorers use automatic tranny fluid which is red in color most of the time. All this would also explain why it would have been hard to turn as well. My guess is some of the water, which at speed can really do some damage, could have knocked a line loose or popped something that more likely then not sprayed the PS fluid all over the place. If thats the case, and it's not real obvious where the leak is at, but you are low on fluid, try putting some in and turning the steering back and forth and see where it is leaking from.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

well guys it was a hose for the power steering pump.....(damn it i need a skid plate) i bet it was a rock i came down on when wheeling. Also about the sterring getting stiff that is another thing i have had a a diffrent time and it involved front suspension parts as well as the power sterring pump. THis time it was the powere sterring hose. It got stiff because there was 0 fluid in the resivor. So i had no power sterring but i got home fine. And when that stuff hit's the block damn it smells . My sudjestion to all so this doesnt happen to you...get a skid plate

 

[Toy_to_Force]

well guys it was a hose for the power steering pump.......get a skid plate

Ok, but i haven't been off road with mine. I have found a few other post regarding this "stiff steering" issue but no real source. The short history with mine is this. Bought X stock. Installed 3inch body lift, drove fine for nearly a year. Was backing out of drive one morning and suddenly steering got real stiff but only in one direction. Kept driving anyway because seemed to be only a problem at very low speed. Sometimes stiff sometimes not. Then it started showing up at regular highway speed, still only one side(right). This again would come and go. Finally it started to show up both left/right. Replaced power steering pump seems better but still a hint of stiffness every once in a while. Sorry about the long post.

 

[jimcom]

I cannot think of the thread this was discussed in, or the name of this condition, but I experienced similar problems a few months ago. I think many of us have.

Turn the steering wheel all the way back and forth to full lock while the truck is parked and engine is on. Someone gave me this advice and it worked. It sounds too simple I know, but I swear to God thats all it was. I don't know if it freed up something in my CV's or torsion bars or what, but it got rid of the steering shudder.
I know you mentioned the problem happened a year after the lift, but hell, try anything once, ya know?

 

[jimcom]

It just popped in my head what this may be, my head wasn't screwed on right yesterday and I couldn't remember exactly what the deal was when I had this problem.
Air in the lines.
Turning the wheel back and forth should purge this.
Has your batt died lately or was the truck moved without engine being on?
When my alt (and subsequently battery) died last year, thats when I developed the steering shudder.
Turning the wheel when pump isn't on will cause air to get in the lines.
You replaced the pump right? but did you purge the lines?
Simple, but it may fix the problem.
Hope this helps.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

the truck has never been moved without the engine in it. I replaced the pump a while back along with several front suspension parts with the symtoms of the sterring shuddred from you canty move it to normal and it kicked(not in 4-lo) that fixed the problem. THis problem was a hose that developed a leak from the pump. To get thew air out of the lines you move the wheel back and forth and all the air is not 100% out yet but it is pretty much all the way. When the hose was replaced there was 0 fluid in the resovior so it needed to be purged anyway.