83 New Yorker Steering Issue
 

I'm new to this forum, and I was attempting to use the search feature to help me with my problem, but I could not find any solutions.

My fiance has an 83 New Yorker with the Mitsubishi engine.

Lately the steering has been acting funny. I believe the problem is with the steering gear, but I want to see if anyone else has another opinion.

When the vehicle makes a sharp turn or turns slightly under speed, there is a low, rapid thumping noise and vibration in the steering wheel. I do not believe it is a CV shaft gone bad, because we have replaced both of the CV shafts a few times since I met my fiance (this is actually her first car). I have also had CV shafts go out on other cars, and the noise is not that of a CV shaft failing.Also, the noise can be heard from the car sitting still while turning the steering wheel. I also do not believe the hubs (bearings) are going bad either, since we had both replaced when we replaced the CV shafts the last time. We have been losing quite a bit of fluid from the power steering resavoir, but I have been impressing upon my fiance to make sure she checks it before she goes anywhere. She has not driven the vehicle in a couple months now, because she is afraid something will break while she drives it.

My thoughts are to replace the steering gear, and possibly replace/rebuildthe power steering pump, if I still lose power steering fluid after the installation. What kind of difficulty level would replacing the steering gear provide? The repair manual looks straight forward. I know I will need to get the vehicle an alignment after the repair.

So, does anyone think it could be something else, or am I on the right track? I have priced some steering gears, and they seem a bit pricey, so I really do not want to go that route if there is a cheaper solution that I might want to try first.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Curtis