A couple days ago my son was driving and he went to turn and he said it felt like it seized up. In reality the steering got very tight to turn. It has now done that several times but it doesn't happen every time he turns. It happens when turning both left and right. He also said when driving straight he can feel the steering is a little tighter. For context, we also replaced the rack and pinion a year ago. We also just replaced the solenoid pack in the transmission 3 weeks ago. We see no noticable leaks. Any ideas?

 

start by checking the easy stuff. fluid in the power steering pump and the joints on the steering shaft. Based on the fact that it's a 18 year old vehicle, even with the rack replacement, the joints on the steering shaft might be having some issues if they have not been serviced and could be binding based on

 

Update...we're resigned to having to junk this truck, but before we do I wanted to at least get some feedback. Yesterday my son drove to work and back fine. He went to start it back up and the following things all happened:
1. It wouldn't start. It had power as everything else powered on. The battery is only 9 months old. We could hear a click, but nothing turned over.
2. While assessing this, I was turning the steering wheel back and forth to see if I noticed anything (the steering hasn't gotten fixed yet). I could feel a little clunk at a certain spot when I turned the wheel. So I turned all the way left and it locked up. However, the wheels were straight.
3. As this was all going on, I could not shift into gear. I could freely glide through all gears and it was completely in neutral.
4. Noticed oil leaking from the oil pan.

Other than that, the truck is doing great, lol. So, I'm guessing it's not worth fixing being an 18 year old truck. Thoughts?

 

1. if the battery voltage was too low it would do this. did you try jumping it? there might be a parasitic draw causing the voltage to be too low for the starter but the accessories would be ok. Could also be the starter itself. hard to know without you trying to jump it and more diagnosis
2. sounds like the rack itself has went, since the steering wheel was turned but the the wheels were not turned at all. as in the internal gear that moves the rack
3. if the voltages are too low with the engine not running, the transmission shift solenoids might not be actually doing anything. hard to say without first dealing with #1.
4. where from the pan? the gasket is not expensive to replace if you are capable of DIY repairs. while at it, also do the valve cover gaskets as it might be leaking from there but dripping down and you think it's coming from the pan.

 

I used a jump starter but I didn't try throwing it on a charger. For other context, the rack is new as of about 9 months ago.

 

As for the steering .... since the rack is new, check the steering intermediate shaft again. Comes out of the fire wall and is attached the the end of the steering column. There's a u-joint on each end and one may have totally failed

I had mine replaced several years ago ... play in the steering wheel and I could feel a click when turning the steering wheel. If this shaft failed and became disconnected. You could turn the steering wheel and the wheels would not turn.

 

Replaced the starter and it fired right up and also shifted into gear just fine. So the next step is the steering. Thanks for all the help up to this point.