mattark17

I got in my truck the other day to drive at after it had been sitting for a couple of weeks. In the summer it is not my daily driver. The last time I had it out is was raining so hard I thought I was going to need to build an ark and start saving animals. OK back to my issue. I drove out of the spot where is was parked which is in the grass. The steering wheel turned fine till a certain spot then it bound up slightly but not to the point it could not turn. I opened the hood and looked at the fluid which is full but I noticed the steering shafts were kinda rusty so I thought sitting after the rain they got kinda sticky. I drove that just a few miles that day and it did not get better. So I applied grease to the u joints of the shaft and worked the wheel back and forth. This seems to have fixed the "sticky" points. However when I drove the truck away I noticed a BIG spot of fluid on the ground. I crawled underneath the truck and I don't see a leak that would have caused that much fluid to come out. The underside was basically dry. Could I have pushed the fluid out because I was working the wheel with out the truck moving? It is possible with 216,000 miles that I may have some worn seals.

Sorry for the long story but your time and help is appreciated.

Rocko1

Clean off all hoses and ps gear. Fill with fluid run truck and work steering back and forth while looking at hoses. You should be able to see the leak and yes, while running the pressure increases greatly. The rough spot may be air in the system. Fix the leak then bleed the system.

s_vares

Another member of this forum had the same problem and it was ujoint on the steering shaft. They can really wreck your day

Rocko1

But that wouldn't directly cause a leak I don't think.

f150corey

i have that problem and im not sure what the leak is but sounds like the u joints to me. i spray mine with pb blaster once a month. it fixes it for a bit. id start there and find that leak

mattark17

Alright so I drove it again last night and the turning is still sticky at points. I would think the u-joints bind up. Still no fluid anywhere to be found. So I guess I will PB Blast the joints and continue to lay on the ground scratching my head looking for fluid.

rustyninja911

iTrader: (1)

i would try flushing the system it cant hurt and it gives you somewhere to start

lariatboy

I believe there is a TSB for the u-joints on the shaft. Once they get a bit of rust on them, they need to be hit with some high-qual penetrating oil. Most shops around here use Thrust oil to do the job. I had the same issue, and a good soak of Thrust 2x/year has kept it smooth.

Ford123

I'm having the same problem now with mine I think im gonna try that thrust oil I know my steering shaft is rusted to sh*t and this only started a couple of days ago if it is one of the u-joints what would the rough cost be to fix that