Shakey Stearing

[recknic]

So here's the story: I was driving home the other day when my idler pulley decided it was parting company with the rest of the engine. Being only 5 miles or so from home, I decided to power on. Well the expecting problems reared there ugly heads as one would expect with no working serpentine belt.. no power stearing, overheating and lack of a working alternator. Anyways, I get it home, pop the hood and see that the powerstearing had overflown, the radiator reservoir was boiling over the before mentioned missing pulley and a damaged tensioner. Well I replace the belt, tensioner and idler hoping that everything would be good. Sadly this is not the case.
I now have a fairly pronounced shaking when turning left or right. I was hoping this would go away once the pump had ran for awhile and the wheel had been worked but this seems to not be the case. Also, while driving on the highway rounding a bend- I hit a pothole that put it into one hell of a shake which thankfully subsided after breaking and accelerating. Imagine a speed wobble on a motorcycle. I have checked the power stearing fluid level and it is showing a proper level.
So here is the background on My 95 4.0 Explorer. She has 199000 miles with most of the things that would fail having failed and thus being replaced. Now the stearing has been loose for a long while but I live with it. Gives her character I say. I suspect it is the stearing linkage. The power stearing pump has also leaked for a long while (many, many years) but with proper fluid levels, it keeps on going.
Any idea why she might be shaking so bad?
Thanks,
Nick

 

[skoal_mint]

air is in your system....turn the wheel all the way to the left and right about 5-6 times with the vechile running

Same death wobble happened to me when i would hit a pot hole

 

[recknic]

Worked like a charm- much obliged.

 

[wjz]

Happened to me too. Thought the truck was going to fall apart like in a cartoon. Turning the wheel several times each way worked great. Hard to believe that death rattle happens because of air in the power stearing. I'm happy it was something so small!

 

[specialized7]

when doing this, should i hold it all full lock for a second or 2?
my power steering whines alot, but i also have that death wobble you speak of

 

[wjz]

the death wobble is b/c there is air in the power stearing line....to get rid of it, turn the car on, and turn the wheel with the car in park back and forth about 50 times side to side. Your essentially bleeding the line and getting the air out. These trucks are notorious for this. Hope it helps...

 

[wjz]

back and forth full revolutions of the wheel....alll the way left, then all the way right...

 

[Mud Puppy]

I just finished lowering my '96 Limited about 2" and hopped in to discover horrible shaking in the steering!! Thank you so much for posting this info. I was able to take care of it in just a few minutes and couldn't be happier!!

Thanks again!!