Power steering problem.

Has the front suspension been lowered? Did you have the hard spot before you changed the gear? You may have a bad thrust bearing between the spindle and axle. The problem with checking that is once you jack up the front end gravity will make the spindle rest on the shim or washer at the top of the axle so if the thrust bearing has failed you won't feel it. I highly doubt two gears have the same problem. I would disconnect the pitman arm and draglink and disconnect the input shaft to the steering gear. Spin your steering wheel in both directions to make sure it is ok. grab the u-joint at the gear end and swivel it around to make sure it isn't siezing up. You will have to check the king-pin thrust bearings while they are under load. You can do this by hand by using turntables. The turntables are the same ones they use for alignments to allow the wheels to turn side-to-side. You would need a friend, but you can actually pull the wheels side-to-side by hand by grabing the tire and pulling. If you had a bad bearing the wheels will pull easier to the right than left.

 

We had one in the shop doing the same thing about a month ago. The hard spot was when you just started to turn left. It didn't matter where the wheels were to begin with, if they were straight ahead and you turn left the stiff spot was there for a bit If you already had the wheels all the way to the right, then started to come back left the stiff spot was there again. Even with a power steering pressure and flow analyzer attached the system showed no problems with pressure or flow. It ended up being the rotary control valve/torsion bar sticking so pressure wasn't being directed against the piston inside the gear when starting to turn but still bypassing.

 

Also, International used to fill P/S straight from the plant years ago with 15W40. All are P/S fluid now. Engine oil is kinda ok, but I would rather use regular P/S fluid. Engine oil is designed for the aggressive environment of the engine with lots of chemicals to help with combustion blow-by, soot, and what-not. I never really thought of engine oil as being good to use in P/S because it is somewhat designed to be used, then changed after 3 months or so. P/S fluid is designed specifically for gears, seals and pumps and will last for years. In the winter time, 15W40 is thicker and harder to flow than P/S fluid too. ATF is good too. Most system will only hold 2or 3 litres, or 1/2 gallon. Price wise is little different between that and engine oil. Your problem is sounding more like a gear issue. For the money, if you can, I would drain out that engine oil, flush out and refill the system with P/S fluid. It might help. As for bleeding, there isn't much to it UNLESS you have a dual gears, thats different! But with a single gear just remove the pressure line and return line at the gear and let the system drain. When the system is empty, reattach your lines and fill the reservoir and crank the engine for 2 seconds, DO NOT let it start. Then check your level, top up as required, crank again and recheck. When you notice the level doesn't drop anymore then you can start and let it run for about 2 mins - stop engine and recheck, fill as required. Restart engine and turn the wheels side-to-side to full lock with the wheels on the ground, stop engine and recheck level. With level full, start engine and turn side to side about 10 times to get all the air out. The biggest thing is to NEVER let the reseroir get empty when you are refilling, this will reintroduce air into the system. So if you change from engine oil to P/S there is no way to fully get out all the engine oil. I would repeat this entire proceedure at least twice, don't afraid to go three times if you want. Some engine oil mixing with P/S fluid won't hurt anything. This would also be a good time for a filter change if there is on inside the reservoir. Good luck!

 

working on a pk210 in my shop came in for first service and after service going to test drive having steering problems turning or when vehicle on the ground but seems to be ok when Jack off the ground

 

Have a 2015 Kenworth T680, recently had the power steering hose replaced by shop. Now have problems turning wheel at idle, but turns fine when running. Is there an easy fix, or is the shop going to be my new home for awhile?

 

Can you describe what's happening when it's at idle vs. running?

 

Check your fluid level.