pulled in to park today ,and all of the sudden feels like no power steering.. Hydraulic tank is full no leaks under the coach.. But super hard to turn steering wheel.. Gonna stay here tonite and maybe tomorrow nite.. Is it safe to drive if I have to wrestle it to get it home? Ideas?
There are two things in a motor vehicle I have a serious aversion to being without - and steering is one of them. I like to be able to pick what I am about to hit.
I'd not move until I knew the cause as it could be something simple on the other hand.....
If you have a safe way of unloading the steer axle and see if there is any change in the effort required to turn the wheel that woul give you some clues.
Marc, I thought you just had the hydraulic's worked on at Newell? Might call them.
There was a recall on Newells a few years ago that had something to do with loose bolts on something to do with steering. I talked to one gal driver that had it happen on way into Newell. You might ask them specifically about your coach. Seemed that it was in our generation of coaches.
Blew out a ps hose many years ago on my 92 44.5. Was ok in a straight line and when moving but the turning circle was huge. I would think it would be pretty much impossible to steer a newer heavy one especially with the the larger tires today. I wouldn't try it again.
Talked to Newell. They think distribution block or solenoid may have issue. I back pressured blew some fluid out of the tank..through the vent cap.. Newell said ok to drive just not easy.. Cooling fan still seems ok.. Gonna get my workout driving it back to Newell..
Keep an eye on your coolant temp. If you have a CAT, be suspect of the hydraulic pump drive splines, they fail regularly. When they do fail, the power steering is affected as is the fan motor.
Update, got it Out of the parking lot and lo and behold power steering returned.. Maybe I just had it cranked real tight at super slow speed made it feel bad.. Drove it home 120 miles no issues. Only thing that was interesting was I had some hydraulic fluid on top of tank Saturday when I parked.. I just had 2 hydraulic hoses changed last week.. Can you have an air bubble?
marc,
i am surprised richard or steve bare didnt pipe in about my experience because i called both of them and i called newell and my bus mechanic buddy.
i was in quincy ca on this last trip and after being there for most of a week we were headed back to tahoe
it was narrow windy mountain back country roads. as i left the park it felt like my power steering had diminished greatly. i said to darlene i thought something was wrong. as i didnt want to get where i couldnt pull over or turn around, about 15 miles out of town i found a place and turned around. i stopped on a concrete parking lot and at that point was hyper sensitive about the steering. i was convinced something was wrong but it wasnt dramatic.
i went back and checked back into the rv park and spent the afternoon on the phone. btw, i do have the exact part number of the power steering pump on the series 60 now....ha they make like 8 million different versions. (but all the newells use the same one)
in the end, i think i was just paranoid and after a day of reading and talking to people, i decided to give it a go again and it was ok.
dont know what made me think it wasnt ok, but i did a good job convincing myself.
when you are convinced something isnt right, and you start turning the wheels and not feeling the way you like (for example i was testing it on coarse blacktop which had tons of bite and i was sitting still), it is easy to convince yourself even further.
tom
Yes the system could burp after changing hoses.
Glad everything is ok
Do you know what the hyd system was topped off with after the hoses were replaced? The reason for asking is that Newell uses atf to the best of my knowledge and some oils may not be compatible with atf. They can form tarballs