ford lover 07

Ok I have a 07 lariat with 67k on it and I live in Wisconsin where it gets pretty cold and lately when I turn The stearing wheel gets hard than easy hard and easy as I turn it farther and farther and the other night it was doing that and then I was driving straight for awhile and went to turn and the stearing wheel was so stiff I couldn't turn it hardly I had to use all my weight to turn and I almost crashed good thing I was almost home and today when I started It up it was stiff and when I gave it some gas it turned easyer and now its just doing the hard then easy i dont know if im making any sense but has anyone else had this problem And I checked the power stearing fluid and it was at the min line so it's not that

fol4321

I'd switch the fluid out with some Lucas power steering condition and to of with royal purple atf. I had that problem and now i do that every time I do a oil change and my steering is fine now.it was really bad like yours

ford lover 07

How do u drain it? Turn the wheel to full lock whatever way the ram is all the way in to get most of the fluid in the Reservoir then take off the supply line er what? And what would cause it to like almost completely lock the stearing wheel like that?

Dozer5

Don't switch the fluid. It's the universals on the steering shaft. Get some good penetrating oil and soak it. It'll loosen up. It sits just inside the wheel well and gets doused with salt all winter. It'll get to a point if seizing up if you don't keep it from corroding.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Changing the fluid is a routine maintenance item, check your owners manual...I use a turkey baster to get the fluid out.

ford lover 07

How do You get all of it out do you have the wheels turned er what?

techrep

iTrader: (1)

never going to get it all out..you can replace 90% though...just like the brake fluid.

ford lover 07

I alright but would the Cause the steering wheel to lock up like it did? And when it got really stiff I gave it gas and it got easyer to turn I'm just really confused as to y it did that?

T1320T

Have you done what Dozer5 recommended? Give it a shot, if the joint is sticky it'll do what you're describing.

Dozer5

It's happened to me and a friend of mine. It's a common problem in states that use salt on the roads. The joint is between the tire and the exhaust manifold and gets sprayed every time you drive in wet conditions. Drove me nuts until I found out what it was. I even changed the fluid as other people suggested. The problem is definately the steering shaft.