Power Steering Lock Under Acceleration

[trailsurfer92]

Any ideas what might cause the steering to lock up under acceleration? This is the second time this has very noticeably happened. Does not matter what speed or if I am going straight or turning. As soon as I press the pedal down to accelerate there is a clear resistance to turn the wheel any direction. As soon as I let off the acceleration the steering will mostly go back to 95%+ function. I am not very mechanically inclined and have already replaced both outer tie rods thinking they might be causing issue. Thanks for any help.

 

[trailsurfer92]

After further google research I am beginning to think it has something to do with the belt. Some forums suggest it could either be stretched or have oil on it causing slippage.

 

[AuSeeker]

After further google research I am beginning to think it has something to do with the belt. Some forums suggest it could either be stretched or have oil on it causing slippage.

Most likely the issue!

 

[V8Man]

Belt slippage, change belt and look at the belt tensioner too.

 

[TechWrench]

You also might want to check the u-joint in the lower section of the steering wheel shaft. They are known to rust up and start binding when making a turn. Do a search on the lower steering shaft u-joint, there are several threads with good info available.

 

[trailsurfer92]

Forgot to update here, replaced belt and all is well again in the world. Once I got the old one off and compared the two it was stretched about 3 inches longer than the new one. I imagine it is either the original belt or very very old and the 4runner is just at 199k miles so it was definitely needed.

 

[TechWrench]

Forgot to update here, replaced belt and all is well again in the world. Once I got the old one off and compared the two it was stretched about 3 inches longer than the new one. I imagine it is either the original belt or very very old and the 4runner is just at 199k miles so it was definitely needed.

glad you solved your problem. But your observation that the old belt was 'stretched' about 3" longer that the new one doesn't sound right. With the way these serpentine belts are constructed, they do not stretch very much as they get older. In most cases I have seen, the belt fails when the ribs start to disintegrate, or the belt shreds. I would suspect that someone replaced the belt in the past, and installed the wrong belt. The belt being too long, would explain it slipping under load, and causing the steering problems.