Steering shudder when turned

[Max Wedge]

Test drove my daughters 95 XLT, and I found that the steering wheel will pulse or shudder when turned, more noticeable when returning to straight ahead. This is at speeds less than 20mph. Straight ahead it does fine, and curves at speed, no problem. Alos turning the wheel in the driveway does not produce it.

Front end components are good, everything is tight. Pump sounds a lttle loud, but not too bad for 153,000 miles. Fluid level is good, but fluid is dark. I noticed that here is an auxillary cooler mounted below, so I assume these tend to run hot.

I'm guessing that the pump is probably going, but maybe you all might know of something to check or that is common before I go about getting a new one.

Any ideas?

 

[IZwack]

You might also experience some shuddering when the 4wd is engaged on dry pavement. A quick test if this is the case is to remove the front driveshaft temporarily and make thsoe same tight turns.

 

[my98nnj]

Check the drive belt, if it's glazed or streached it might cause the pump pully to slip under load.