Hard steering, only with Engine running!!

[Trudy]

Hi Everyone,

I have an 06’ Mercruiser 5.7, which has hard steering. So, I followed the advice of Don S & Bondo on the other 999 similar posts.... pulled the steering cable, found some brown dirt/grease, cleaned it up, and greased. Now smooth as butter & steers great with engine off.

However, when the engine is running, it is nearly impossible to steer to the right. Steer left, no problem.

i’m guessing either the power steering pump or cylinder housing? Any troubleshooting advice? Thanks so much!!

 

[alldodge]

The top right side of pic below make sure the slot is facing straight up/down

 

[Trudy]

alldodge Thank you! As you can see from the attached photo, it definitely is not straight up and down. I will fix tomorrow. How would that have an impact?

 

[alldodge]

If not straight then the internal ports are not aligned correctly

 

[alldodge]

flow

 

[Trudy]

alldodge I have followed all of the steps above. Still have hard steering with engine running. Steering is OK with engine off (not perfect, but good). Thoughts?

 

[alldodge]

Loosen the cable steering nut just slightly, place wrench on the tube and see if moving it a bit one way or the other helps. If it doesn't then ram may have an issue.

 

[Trudy]

alldodge i appreciate the help!! Still no luck. With the engine running, i used channel locks to dead head the high pressure hose out of the pump. I got no feedback, and didn’t hear the relief valve open.

 

[alldodge]

used channel locks to dead head the high pressure hose out of the pump

How did you do that, the pressure is over 1000 psi?

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... Are ya Sure ya got the wrench-flats dead up, 'n down,..??..??

Doin' so, aligns the valvin' inside the unit,......

 

[Trudy]

Bondo alldodge yes the wrench flats are perfectly up and down.

With the engine idling i squeezed the high pressure hose out of the pump. I was able to completely pinch the hose & got no reaction from the pump. I was planning on replacing the pump...

But if I ever do have to replace the actuator assembly... how on earth do I get at the mounting bolt on the underside?!

 

[alldodge]

how on earth do I get at the mounting bolt on the underside?!

If can be done, I've done it. The hardest part is bending the tab washer out so a wrench can be put on it. Most times its easier to remove the motor.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Bondo alldodge yes the wrench flats are perfectly up and down.

With the engine idling i squeezed the high pressure hose out of the pump. I was able to completely pinch the hose & got no reaction from the pump. I was planning on replacing the pump...

But if I ever do have to replace the actuator assembly... how on earth do I get at the mounting bolt on the underside?!

at most I have ever had to do was buy a $11 pump rebuild kit for a saginaw pump.

if you have no pressure out of the pump, you probably have no oil in the pump

 

[Trudy]

Bondo alldodge well, steering is still extremely hard, i have confirmed the following:

-Steering cable is perfectly fine
-PS pump is fine (replaced with new)
-Flats on actuator perfectly vertical

It must be the actuator assembly. Can these be rebuilt in place?

 

[alldodge]

Don't know if anyone has rebuilt one of them
Try rotating the flats 180* just to see if it helps any

 

[Trudy]

alldodge not much of a difference. I plan to pull the engine and replace the actuator. I should have mentioned the boat sat for 11 years, and the fluid in the PS pump reservoir was watery/milky crap. I also plan to pressure test the PS cooler.