Hi all,
I am new to DTR forum, but need some help with an issue that just surfaced on Monday. Had my truck towed to Dodge Dealer, and 2 of their techs could not duplicate the problem nor find any fix.
Issue: After about a 60 mile trip...down a curvey mountain road, with moderate braking, and then about 20 miles of straight highway, I applied the brakes for a stop light, and planned right turn, and as I applied the brakes, the steering wheel became VERY difficult to turn, and did not return to normal power steering until I stepped on the gas. Releasing the brake alone had no effect. The steering was not locked up completely, but extremely hard to turn: harder than when the engine is off, and you steer manually...over-riding the power steering system.
The service dept had never heard of this, but the tow truck (Ram 5500) driver said his truck did the same thing a couple years ago, but has never done it since. My truck did this one time about 1 1/2 yrs ago, but had never repeated itself until this Monday, and it did it about 10 times as I drove home. Of course after getting towed the same day, it won't repeat the symptoms. Any help out here??
2011 Ram 2500, 6.7l diesel.

 

Welcome to the site, the hoses to the pump have a Teflon liner that separates then collapses, it usually shows up as a whistling sound as the fluid is restricted as it passes through, might want to start there.

 

Also if it has the "hydro-boost" unit attached to the brake master cylinder unit, it can have a problem as well...internal seal leakage? Maybe check there as well.

 

My 2011 did that while turning onto an on-ramp with my RV in tow. I stopped on the on-ramp and checked to see if anything was damaged underneath (had just driven 30 miles of dirt roads) & my PS fluid level. Nothing obviously wrong- got back in and headed home. Never did it again. Mentioned it later to my dealer and all they said was what Busboy mentioned above.

 

Kubotabaron, where abouts do you live? I recently had this happen to my 2012 3500 DRW when i was in frigid temps(-6F to -13F). I had made a trip up to anchorage from kodiak AK. Kodiak is usually between 10-40 degrees and anchorage is always cold. I have never had it happen to me in kodiak since i bought the truck (may of 2012). Anyway, i am up in anchorage and i am towing a trailer. I am pulling up to a light to make a left turn and i notice my brakes get stiff and my steering is **** near impossible to turn (no power). I rev the engine and hot dang, i got steering again. Life goes on for another 12 hours while i rest. Next morning i get up, same thing happens. It happened multiple times that day while i was running errands. I finally took it to that sorry service center of lithia dodge. They said they have never heard of it and couldnt do anything for me(go figure). So i got online that night and did some research. i found that people were having that teflon break down in the line from the pump to the booster like Busboy had stated. I did not want to travel 240 miles on known icy roads with a trailer and have my steering lock up. So i had bought a line from the dealer before i left for the trip down(just in case). The trip went with out a glich as long as i was at cruising speed with rpms up. If i had to slow down at a light it would lock up. As soon as i got back to kodiak i have not had this issue. I have been back for a couple months now. The only thing i could think of was the cold temps. I do have the power steering cooler and beleive that was causing the block up. Now either cold hydro fluid was making the broke down line more noticeable? Or it was just cold fluid. But one would think there would be many more complaints of no steering in those cold climates like canada, some of the mid west and alaska if it was just cold fluid. It seems that most viscosity levels of ATF +4 is extremely thick at -40C, ranging from 8,000 Cp to 9,000 Cp. Where at 40C it is 30-40 Cst. Hope this info helps.

 

Inspect the power steering pressure hose (running from the pump to the hydroboost) by removing it at the hydroboost end fitting. The power steering pressure hose internal tuning element (white plastic line) may have released from inside the hose and is sticking out and/or become trapped in the hydroboost. Could cause a restriction with reduced pressure to steering gear. May want to check first.

 

To all of you who offered suggestions, and those wondering what the fix was. I took the truck back to the dealer after reading some replies here, and going to Just Answers where a Ram technician offered help. The dealer did hook up the power steering tester and found the steering pump booster to have sticking valves. They replaced the pump booster and at least one hydraulic line. I hope this fixes the problem. A little more driving will soon tell if it did.

 

Thanks for the report! Sometimes the OP never gets back and we're all left hanging. Might make a good sticky as many of us have had this problem.

 

Pump Booster or steering pump booster? Power steering pump or brake booster would be correct nomenclature.