I've got a weird one for you. On my 2008 Dakota while holding the steering wheel slightly to the right or left such as turning a very long gentle sweeping curve, you can feel the power steering serge constantly and randomly. It feels almost as if giving more assist then less assist. There should be a slight resistance while holding it in a turn, and then the resistance it gone and if you aren't careful, you will over-steer. It randomly pulses in and out lasting about 1/2 a second.

I hate to just change out the PS pump, last Dakota I had, that ended up being a nightmare of 4 pumps and a rack and a couple of weeks in the shop before it finally worked correctly.

 

is there any noise? Could be air in the system. were any suspension changes made just prior to the feeling (tires, tie rods....)? Is this something new?

 

No noise whatsoever. I did install 2" levelers in the front and had it aligned. I can't say for sure it it showed up then or not. My wife drives it for work everyday and I only drive it occasionally. It's been doing it for the last year or so and hasn't gotten worse or changed much.

Recently the dealer changed the ball joints and the front wheel bearings, but it's done it before and after that.

 

flush the fluid out, and bleed it, might help, worst case is the system is flushed and it still does it. Could be the vent is clogged (in the cap) loosen the cap should be very little pressure (just a little pop not blow the cap off)

 

Ill give that a try and check the cap. Thanks.

 

My 08 was doing something like this a couple of months ago.
Driving down the road you could tell the steering was tight, give it a bit of a turn and all of a sudden the power came back and it would turn easy.
I flushed the system and installed an aftermarket inline PS filter and its been fine since.

 

you're supposed to flush the fluid periodically, although I have rarely done mine either (same with brake fluid)

 

WARRING !!!!! do NOT flush the pump under power with anything but oil. do NOT use solvent, gasoline, or light fulids. they will NOT have enough lube to keep the pump from jamming up.

 

With a lift, the steering shaft universal near the firewall has a greater angle that's close to it's limit. Before you do anything with the pump, get a good spray grease and lubricate that joint well - this should remove that on-again, off-again PS feeling you're getting.

 

Something that maybe confusing is that the change in feel of the steering is not necessarily while the steering wheel is being turned but rather while the steering wheel is held in a turning position. There is a big difference. I can hold the wheel turned to say the 2:00 position and keep it there and feel the assist of the power steering change. It almost has to be something that is moving while the steering wheel is stationary, such as the pump system.