Power Steering Issues?!

[Jteakus]

I remember reading about a group of JL’s wheeling in Brazil (I think) in 4-wheel & Offroad when they first hit the market. Several were on 37’s and the report was that the steering worked great. Mine is on stock wheels and tires and we did 8 days in CO, not aired down and front diff open. I got the overheat warning constantly. A JT with us on 37’s did too. I dunno.

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[UrbanCowboyAZ]

Just picked up my Jeep and wheeled Moab on my trip home and had this issue pretty much the entire time I was running Hell’s Revenge. I’m on 35’s and was only aired down to 22ish psi. Ran Fins n Things in the morning and no problems. Went into town to grab lunch and ran Hell’s Revenge in the afternoon. About 30 min into Hells Revenge my light came in and stayed on pretty much the whole trail. I’m sure it didn’t help that it was 105 out that afternoon and I didn’t actually lose any steering, but the light was on the whole time unless I’d stop and turn the car off for some time. But then 10 min after moving along, it would come back on. At the end of the trail, I reconnected the sway bar and a few min later on pavement, the light turned off. It didn’t end up being a real issue, but it certainly put on edge on my 3 day old rig.

 

[nerubi]

Owner's manual says the steering system is setup to shut down under extreme offroad conditions to prevent system failure. it says when it occurs to pull over and allow it to cool. Steering is still available but will be non-powered until it cools.

 

[kosinar]

Owner's manual says the steering system is setup to shut down under extreme offroad conditions to prevent system failure. it says when it occurs to pull over and allow it to cool. Steering is still available but will be non-powered until it cools.

Thanks for good information. It does look like that is what is going on but in my two instances overheating warning was not on. I got warning few times but it did not result in shutting down power steering. It could be independent from overheating and instead it is sensing extreme load on the system. When it happens you can not turn left or right so it must be completely shot down.

 

[kosinar]

I was thinking later that I should have tried that but it did not cross my mind at that moment. I will try it if it happens next time. Force needed to turn steering without power steering assist was more that I could provide. I am reasonably strong and very strong under the stress but I could not turn it either way.

 

[UrbanCowboyAZ]

Welp, when I ran Hells Revenge the other day at 105 degrees after wheeling all morning, I chalked it up to lots of heat.

However, this morning I ran Imogene Pass and it was 70 when I started. 20 minutes in, my steering light came on again saying it was too hot. Made a long pit stop Tomboy mine to explore and it went away. It had also cooled to about 62 from there to the pass. About 10 min after leaving Tomboy the light came on again. Stopped again at the top for 5-10 min. The light never came on going downhill from the pass into Ouray.

I’m guessing the engine is just making too much heat when it’s working going up hill. This is pretty disappointing. I’m fully stock aside from 35” tires. I didn’t even air down and it was cool outside. Not sure what to do. I don’t really want to upgrade steering on a stock 1 week old vehicle. I guess a call to the dealership is a good start.

 

[Jteakus]

I think those of us who wheel our JL's are all gonna have problems and i don't see an easy solution.

 

[Oilburner]

What would the dealership say about adding that cooler?

Could an overheating event ‘boil’ the ps fluid & need to replace it afterwards?

 

[Oilburner]

Sounding like the off-road pages needs a gauge for the power steering #wierd

 

[Compression-Ignition]

Is that what that little air intake is for under the drivers side headlight? I spotted that last weekend, and wondered what it lead to.

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