Hey
I have a 1987 maxima,when i turn the steering wheel the front wheels wont turn unless you yank the wheel and it only turn a little bit.Also for a while now if you turned the wheel all the way it would make a crunching noise?,the rack has been replaced,it has a new ball joint the other day and thing an outer tie rod she also has low miles only 303,000

any ideas as to what the problem could be would be great
thanks
brian

 

Hmmm, kinda wonder if the power steering is really working or not. To sounds of it no, but there could also be binding somewhere that is causing it. I would check your steering wheel to rack linkage. Try putting the front end of the car in the air and have someone look at the steering components while someone turns the wheel hard left or hard right.

S

 

after dong my rack, and seeing how everything fits down there, i'd say it's likely the steering column to rack input shaft joint is either loose or broken...if it's loose, you can get in there, reseat it on the splines, and tighten the pinch bolt down...if it's broken, time for a new column...

just my 2cents...

 

you know, mentioning the grinding sound made me think today, it may seem kinda obvious, but are you sure you have enough power steering fluid? It's something that should at least be looked at, I know my car was hard to steer and made a loud noise when it ran until i filled the resevoir, all the problems where fixed. I know it sounds almost too simple, but look into it at least.

Also, interesting thing, everyone already knows on here proabably, but the max has a remote resevoir for the power steering, all the domestics that I've worked with before had the resivoir right on the pump, just something I thought was a little different, but glad they put it there, easy to get too.

 

another thing to mention about power steering fluid...ONLY use ATF Dexron II or higher...do NOT use actual power steering fluid, or you WILL have leaks...

 

well that explains the leaks lol.mine leaks bad.will have to get some ATF to start using.Wow learn something new everyday.

 

yep...and if it's real bad, you might wanna try some Lucas Stop Leak for P/S systems...it will speed up the process, and help condition the system...

 

This falls under the steering thing as well I think. Let me explain, couple of months ago, I was just cruising down the highway on a big bend, I hear a large clunk but everything seemed fine. Well nowadays when I go highway speeds the car is very squirley, and it never was before, it also seems to react better if I turn one direction than the other, however this isn't noticable around town. My thought is that I broke a tooth in my rack and it needs to be replaced, what's your thougths. Oh and I already checked both sway bars and end links and they seemed solid, havn't put it on a lift yet however.

 

could be the tie-rod ends...