Stiff Steering

[Guest]

I just purchased a 99 Expedition (2WD, 4.6L, Air Susp).
Is it just me or is the steering very stiff?
I understand the the truck sports velocity sensitive steering but at speeds above 30MPH it is very difficult to steer the vehicle with one hand.
I brought it in to the dealer and they replaced the power steering pump but it did not help much. (Extended warrantee paid for it).
I live in LA and when the Santa Anna starts to blow I get sore back muscles from having to fight the vehicle from being pushed into the adjacent lane on the highway.
I have owned many trucks/SUVs in the past and they all had very light steering controls.

Am I crazy or should I hit the gym?

 

[Guest]

The expedition is very sensitive to tire pressure. Check both front tires per label on door jam.

And, no. It should not require a visit to the weights to be able to drive the Expy. The power steering pump is only one possible source of a difficult steering.

Possible other sources are:
Power steering linkage.
Steering pivot.
Steering gear.

Take it back to dealer and tell them that pump didn't do it and to check the rest of the steering system.

 

[PaulC]

Ford modified the steering box to require greater driver effort during the course of the 1999 model year. Earlier models with lighter steering were causing consumer complaints about twitchy steering. It's possible that your Expy is a later build 1999 with the revised box. I've driven both versions and greatly prefer the earlier box.

 

[PaulC]

How is the front-end alignment? Has the front end been lubed as required?

 

[Guest]

Thanks so much for all of your messages.
Here is an update...

I took the vehicle back to the Ford dealer and I had a technician take a test drive.
He agreed that there was deffinately a "bite" to the steering and he would check into it.
They worked on the vehicle all day and could not find out why it was doing this.
In the end they told me that "some cars just act like this".

I picked my vehicle up this morning but not without insisting to speak to the manager and to the technicians that worked on my vehicle.
We discussed the problem for a while and I asked them to describe to me in detail the workings of the power steering and how VST falls into play.
One of the things that came up is that somehow the air suspension system is tied into the power steering.
I decided to turn off the air suspension (switch under dash on passenger side).
BIG DIFFERENCE! The vehicle now has feather touch steering at speeds higher then 5 MPH. It does feel like the VST system has been completely shut off but at least I can maneuver the vehicle through the city streets again.

The technician wants to change out the air compressor ($$ouch). I am not convinced that this is the problem. The compressor is fairly loud when it turns on and it has a kind of grinding noise. I am thinking that somehow the computer is getting eroneous information from one of the sensors or there is a leak in the air suspension system.

Although the vehicle does steer well at speeds above 5 MPH it does seem to have a loss of power at slower maneuvering speeds.

 

[Guest]

Sorry to hear you are the latest air suspension victom. I'm a seasoned veteran on this one (all my problems happened after 100K miles). Replaced the compressor myself with a rebuilt unit two times (Check out struttmasters.com for more info). The compressor is attached to a mounting bracket via 4-5 rubber bushings to isolate the vibration of the unit when it runs. The rubber eventually gets worn out and you end up with metal/metal contact which results in the "buzzing" sound. If you are getting up there in mileage and want to hold on to your truck for awhile, I would recommend you look into the struttmasters conversion kit and you will never have a problem with this system again.

Some love the air suspension but many have had their fill of problems and it can be a real pain in the ass!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info! Is the air compressor difficult to replace?
I have thought about replacing it myself but I am not very familiar with air suspension systems.
I get the feeling that it can be dangerous to work on it with all of that built up pressure in the tank.
Also, did your power steering act up when your compressor died?

 

[Guest]

So here's an update to this ongoing saga.
I dropped my Expy off at the dealer on Wednesday and they took another look at it.
They came back saying that the EVO needed to be replaced. Since the unit is embedded deep inside of the dashboard it would be an all day affair.
Well they just called to tell me that the EVO unit they installed seems to be defective so they are going to replace it tomorrow after they receive a new one from the manufacturer.
Personally I doubt this is going to solve my problem. The maintenance tech told me that a pinpoint test of the EVO unit showed a “low voltage condition”. Being an Engineer myself I asked him to explain what that meant but it was obvious that he had no clue what he was talking about.
Before I brought my Expy back to the dealer I tried a little experiment.
I unhooked the connector attached to the power steering pump. Theoretically this should allow the actuator valve inside the pump to remain fully open thus giving me full power steering at all times.
What happened is that the steering remains very stiff at parking lot speeds (below 5MPH) but at higher speeds I have one finger control of the steering wheel.
I am thinking that perhaps the power steering gearbox is faulty.
Anyone have any ideas?