Cold Steering??

[Daggar]

Winter is finally here (Boooooo!). I've noticed lately that right after starting the car the the steering wheel is very hard to rotate. It clears up after the first or second turn of the wheel but my question is this:

Is this just the result of the cold climate or is my steering rack cavitating as it sits? Have I lost a check valve or something that's supposed to keep the rack full of fluid once the pump shuts down?

Thanks

 

[HISSIN50]

how cold is cold? wouldnt gravity keep the rack full?
tried a synthetic fluid yet?

good luck bud.

 

[BaXTeR3221]

I have the same problem on my beater, i figured it has to do with the cold since it only happens on really cold days and only if the car hasn't been driving for 8-10 hours.

 

[HISSIN50]

Daggar, does it act the same if you start it and then immediately turn the wheel versus starting it, letting it run for 30 seconds, and then turn the wheel?

 

[Daggar]

Daggar, does it act the same if you start it and then immediately turn the wheel versus starting it, letting it run for 30 seconds, and then turn the wheel?

To tell ya the truth, I'm really not certain. I almost ALWAYS let the car run long enough for oil to circulate before goin anywhere. I've just noticed it doing it recently and have not had the pressence of mind to let it run for a bit longer before getting under way. It's always like... Start, go, hooooly crap, then it's fine. hehe

Edit: BTW Cold to me is usually hovering around 35* or colder. I didn't actually take ambient air temps when it happened.

 

[HISSIN50]

To tell ya the truth, I'm really not certain. I almost ALWAYS let the car run long enough for oil to circulate before goin anywhere. I've just noticed it doing it recently and have not had the pressence of mind to let it run for a bit longer before getting under way. It's always like... Start, go, hooooly crap, then it's fine. hehe

Edit: BTW Cold to me is usually hovering around 35* or colder. I didn't actually take ambient air temps when it happened.

sounds good. i was not sure where you were from, so i did not know if cold was 40* (for me in the desert) or twenty below.

is the car parked outside? one thing i was getting at before when i asked, was wondering if the tires were frozen to the ground (where you are now breaking the tires loose when you first turn the wheel). i grew up in Alaska and remember rocking cars to get them unstuck.

good luck bud.
hey, no more clutch recommendations. J/K.

 

[BlownStangGT]

yeah my car does the same thing, if i start it and turn the wheel when shes cold, itss hard for the frst few turns...I have no worries, so who knows

 

[Michael Yount]

"I didn't actually take ambient air temps when it happened. " We are SO disappointed in you.

See how it does - and see if you can verify what makes it go away. 3 winters ago, the steering in the Volvo started acting up - like very stiff resistance to turning in one direction, that seemed to come and go without warning. Made driving pretty sporty I can tell you. Turned out to be a bad rack.

JT - you know you're someplace WAY too freakin' cold when the tires freeze to the ground. That's God's way of telling you to go back inside where it's warm ----- and then move south as soon as it thaws enough to do so.

 

[Daggar]

Yikes! I hope my tires don't freeze to the ground. I'm in the midwest now. Today it's been a balmy 5* with a wind chill of around -8*. I've noticed the problem off and on since the weather started turning. I think I'll take you up on your advise and try some synthetic fluid and see how that goes. Couldn't hurt, and I don't remember the last time I drained and serviced the reservoir. The fluid level looks good but I'm sure it could probably use a complete change.

 

[Look Its Aaron]

It is 77 degrees out side now. You guys are right winter is here, starting to wear sweatshirts now...

hehe Southern California > Midwest...

 

[HISSIN50]

JT - you know you're someplace WAY too freakin' cold when the tires freeze to the ground. That's God's way of telling you to go back inside where it's warm ----- and then move south as soon as it thaws enough to do so.

tell me about it. dont get me started on the time the puddle-jumper pilot, who had landed on a frozen lake, had to use a torch to unfreeze the skids from the lake's icy surface.

i now live in the desert.

 

[Michael Yount]

Torch on a frozen lake - sounds like a bad idea waiting to happen; but not any worse than not using the torch and later having someone use the torch to cut 'you' out of the ice. I remembered you were in AZ - now I know WHY you moved there!

Aaron - been to CA - nice place to visit, but I could never live there -- way too dry/brown for my taste. You enjoy it til it earthquakes itself or mudslides itself into the Pacific.

Daggar - where are you? We've got low of about 12F tonight with windchills near 0F tonight here in east TN. Chilly even for us!