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Hey Guys I bought a Crown Vic Interceptor today for a great deal however I find that the power steering is acting oddly and maybe it's something inherent to the car?(i'm not a car whiz) When the car is moving(more than 15kph or so) the power steering is good to go but if I need to back up to park or what have you the wheel gets really gummy. I'm thinking this is a U-joint problem but maybe there's something inherent to this car that gives it this kind of characteristic? Just wanted your opinion/knowledge Thanks!
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Apr 24, 2016 03:55
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 20:43 |
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Crown vics are known for being basically indestructible as long as you don't need reverse. In the small periods in between reverse gear blowing up, though, they are capable of doing 60mph in reverse, so it's definitely not normal. Does the car reverse fine in a straight line? Do the poperties change drastically with a little bit of brake pedal?
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Apr 24, 2016 04:02
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It reverses just fine but turning into that straight line is an arm exercise. If i'm driving it''ll be just fine but if I take a turn a little too slow it'll gum up again.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:05
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Do you get any squealing from the belt when this happens? Sounds like the power steering pump works fine at high RPM, but not so well at idle. Just as a sanity check, have you checked the power steering fluid level? Maybe you have a leak.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:10
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No squealing that I can hear from a belt, the tires give me that groan like they're trying to turn too hard, I haven't checked it yet though there's no spots on the underside of the car if that indicates anything, maybe the pump isn't acting as it should? I did a bit of research and it suggests that the power steering seems to work best under high rpm as you say and the issue was the ujoints not being lubricated enough which is why I suggested it. I'll go take a look in a bit.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:13
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Is the steering gumming up in slow forward steering? I don't see why going forward or backward would matter, unless when you shift to drive you floor it in which case you are driving it properly. If going forward at idle causes the same gummy steering, that's a bright sign for where to start.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:24
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The forward and backward has no bearing on it, it was just the best example, it's mostly an issue of speed, if i'm driving at 40 or so it's fine. If I slow down to get into a parking spot it instantly gets gummy and I have to fight real hard to turn. If I need to back up to get parallel it's drat hard to turn into it as the steering wheel becomes nearly immobile. If there's no application of the gas yes going forward will give me a tough steering wheel.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:28
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Well the first thing to check is if you have enough fluid in your reservoir. If you do, and you still suspect a sticky/binding linkage, put the front end up on jack stands so the tires are off the ground, and crank the wheel from lock to lock with the engine off. I'd imagine you'd be able to feel any binding, if there is any.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:32
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So I did a quick look and it seems to me that it's filled to the brim which to my understanding is something you don't do. Now if overfilling it can cause that kind of problem i'd be surprised but what do I know? I let the car go forward under it's own power in drive it's still really gummy and hard but once it picks up a little bit of speed it gets much looser. When I brake to go into a turn it gets gummy again. Seems very much related to the speed i'm going at, maybe the pump isn't working as it should? Longsaddle fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Apr 24, 2016 |
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Apr 24, 2016 04:50
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Does the steering feel "loose" when going over bumps or pot holes, like the steering wheel has "loose bearings" or something? The steering shafts go bad in these cars, I replaced both of them in the '02 I had, although after '03 Ford updated to rack and pinion so it may not even apply.
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Apr 24, 2016 05:00
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Not that I can recall, as long as i'm going at some sort of speed the car feels as it should
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Apr 24, 2016 05:02
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On many cars, the power steering only actually helps at very low speeds. Once the car is moving you may not even notice if the pump wasn't working, but you would definitely notice at parking lot speeds. You said there's an audible groaning - Ford power steering pumps are notoriously noisy, but a bad power steering pump (or over/underfilled) will groan a bit louder. Is it actually binding, like a notchy feeling where you have to give an extra heave to get past that one spot, then it feels like it pops loose? If so, either the u-joints in the steering linkage are bad, or the steering rack is bad. Or is it just really hard to turn at low speeds? That would point at the power steering pump.
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Apr 24, 2016 06:20
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some texas redneck posted:On many cars, the power steering only actually helps at very low speeds. Once the car is moving you may not even notice if the pump wasn't working, but you would definitely notice at parking lot speeds. There's no "hump" it's hard no matter what I do and no matter how far I go. I plan on taking it to the mechanic monday but I just wanted to get a sense of what might be going on, I paid 2300CDN(169,000km) for this car so I still think I got quite a deal just sucks that it may need a repair.
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Apr 24, 2016 06:25
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That sounds like the PS pump to me. Lucky for you there's roughly 20 billion of these cars on the road (Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car all share the chassis and mechanical stuff), so a remanufactured PS pump is going to be relatively cheap. Labor shouldn't be bad either, IIRC the pump is pretty easy to get at.
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Apr 24, 2016 06:31
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some texas redneck posted:That sounds like the PS pump to me. Well thanks, I feel a little better about it that it's hopefully not going to cost me a lot and that I more or less know what it's doing based on solid anecdotal experience.
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Apr 24, 2016 06:39
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some texas redneck posted:That sounds like the PS pump to me. Would old PS fluid possibly cause this? my fluid is very opaque and not clear/amber at all.
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Apr 24, 2016 21:24
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Unlikely, but old fluid isn't doing it any favors. Also your fluid would probably be pink if it was fresh; pretty sure your car uses transmission fluid as the power steering fluid.
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Apr 25, 2016 04:32
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Nephirim posted:Would old PS fluid possibly cause this? my fluid is very opaque and not clear/amber at all. No. I normally don't recommend this, but you might just want to join crownvic.net to see if it's a common problem. Search first and post only if you have to. It's not as bad as most car forums (mnet) and if you stay out of the gun rhetoric you'll be ok. It was helpful for me when i was a Vic owner.
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Apr 25, 2016 15:52
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Check the differential fluid for shits while your getting dirty.
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Apr 26, 2016 02:47
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Brought it to my mechanic and they put it on a jack and did all the tests, the pump isn't even circulating fluid so that seems to be the problem here. 300$ for the repair, god willing it'll be fine after that.
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Apr 26, 2016 03:03
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 20:43 |
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There's a recall for the steering shaft on 05-11 Vics. Make sure its been done. The shaft rusts and corrodes and can seize up.
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Nov 29, 2016 06:30
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