Weird Noise In Steering Colum
 

I have a 1987 PU and when I turn the wheel there is a loud clicking noise and whatever it is, it's making the wheel hard to turn. I checked the power steering fluid and it's ok, I even took the steering colum cover off to see if anything was jammed in there or broken and I couldnt see anything wrong. It was not doing this before. Any ideas of what it is?

thanks,
jdw

I'd wager it has to do with the turn-signal automatic turn-off device. You know, the thing that shuts the Blinker off when you turn the wheel back. My Grandpas van clicks and is hard to turn when you hold the lever up and turn the wheel, like when you are maneuvering coming up to a turn. Maybe try removing the Turn indicator lever and then try turning it.

Man I dont know what the hell it is.The power steering resevoir is full, my brakes are not binding, and it's worse when it's cold outside. It's very hard to turn like there's no power steering. Seems to pull to one side, and when I turn the steering wheel, it wont come back straight like normal, I have to fight the thing back straight. Any more ideas?

have the alignment checked. id bet you it has something to do with your front end.

Check the seals on your power steering. Your car might have what is reffered to as morning sickness. When the fluid is cold as you described it can leak past the seal inside the actuall valve in the rack/box. Typically auto manufacturers modified or replaced the seals after they realized this problem.

Another idea, which is directly related to your steering not returning would follow whoever said alignment. What causes your steering wheel to return to you is called caster. Caster is the angle of your shock/strut in relation to the wheel. The best way to think of this would be a dragster. That long rake that they have in front gives them a lot of positive caster. The more positive your caster is, the more straight your vehivle will tend to go. Because positive caster makes your vehicle want to go straight it causes your steering wheel to return to you after a turn. If your caster is out on one side your vehicle might not always want to pull in that direction, but it may veer that way when you use the brakes, and it will want to jump into a turn very easily in that direction, like an autocross car.

So, have any alignment place check your alignment and make them tell you what the caster angles were before they aligned it. Id just check the entire steering box and see if there is any leakage or perhaps internal breakage that could lead to your problem.