crown vic steering

[Rand E. Renner]

mornin all
i have a 1999 ford crown vic,police intercepter,that the steering is catching when i turn the steering wheel.It drags when the wheel is turned from the straight ahead position and then grabs again on a full turn of the wheel.In a turn if i was to let go of the wheel it wont go back to straight ahead but would just keep turning.I thought it was in the bearing that goes through the firewall (it was dirty ) but i cleaned and regreased.is there a bearing at the top end of the steering column that could be holding or is it in the steering sector
thanks for your help Rand E.

[minniemobuddha]

you have a serious problem,probably in the steering gear itself.might be in the pump,but i doubt it.dont drive it till its fixed.

[Tony Turner]

More than likely you have a valve sticking in the sector or pump. This condition can be dangerous so be very careful. I'm going to offer you this information but what you do with it is your responsibility.

Several years ago we had some International School buses that did the same thing. We changed the steering gear and a few weeks later they would mess up again. We changed the pumps and a few weeks later the messed up again. One day a chemical salesman came in while we were working on one of the buses that had the problem. We explained the issue and he said "I can fix that right up". I thought to myself... sure you can but I let him work his snake-oil magic. He opened a can of Justice Brothers Automatic Transmission Conditioner, removed a couple of ounces of fluid from the pump then topped it up with the Conditioner. I started the bus and turned the wheel and it promptly got hard as a rock. I pulled the wheel harder and all of a sudden it popped and freed up. I ran it from side to side and it never hung again EVER!!!!! We started using the JB product in all the pumps on our buses and never had another problem.

About a year ago Betsy's son's Van lost all it's power steering. The pump would growl but no power assist at all. I added a couple of ounces of the Justice Brothers product and after turning the wheel side to side it started to work perfectly...... you be the judge. It worked for me and I'm not connected to Justice Brothers in any way, but I wish I was.

Later,
Tony

[Rand E. Renner]

I AM GOING TO TRY THE SNAKE OIL FIRST WILL LET YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS
THANKS FOR THE INFO