Ford F-150 (2004-2008) :: 2006 - Hard Steering / Heavy Feel
Feb 6, 2010
I've got an '06 F150 and the steering isn't right with it. It has had a heavy feel and is almost like the power assist is only working half as good as it should. It's been like this for a couple months. I 've had all four ball joints and the steering rack replaced in the last month. It had the heavy steering feel before and after everything was replaced. It also doesn't recover itself on sharp turns, I have to turn the wheel back as I complete the turn. Could it be the power steering pump? I thought it was a mechanical device and it either worked or it didn't, maybe they get weak?
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I drove a '97 with the 5.0 and AWD. I noticed that when I turned around in the neighborhood, the steering started to feel a little heavy during a U-turn. I was pretty close to full steering input to the left, but not quite at the lock. Also, it seemed like the tires might be scrubbing the pavement a little bit. No real binding or hopping, just that feel you get when you have the transfer case locked in your old-school 4X4 and make sharps turns. Is this typical for the AWD?
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The problem makes the car unsafe to drive. The quickest way to describe it is a hard pull to the left after a very linear steering feel. My perception is almost as something is holding on and then just fails and lets go and the car quite abruptly shoots left in a very unsafe manner. Here are the things I have done to remedy the situation, I replaced the struts with factory replacements 15,000 miles ago. At the same time i replaced the left and right axles, drove the car with the problem then last weekend, I replaced the upper tie rod arms, and lower tie rod ends, the sway bar bushings, and the control arms on both sides. I literally feel as though it is a darn near new front end.
Just yesterday I had 4 new Goodyear eagle tires and an alignment done and the problem became more pronounced and worst. I really like this car and want it to be a joy to drive as I know from others these little hatchbacks are a real joy on winding mountain roads.
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I purchased a 2006 Ford F-150 XLT, 5.4 3V Triton. Last Thursday my check engine light came on, so I came to this forum and found out how to retrieve the code with out a OBD. It came up as a 0301 Misfire cylinder 1-10?
I went to the dealer and they said it was cylinder one, sold me a new plug and coil pack and they installed it for a nice $$$. On my way home it started to sputter again when you give it heavy throttle, I called they told me that I should change all the plugs and Coil packs, kinda makes sense but to have all 8 plugs and coils go at once it only has 83km on it.
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Replaced the Intermediate Steering Shaft at 114,000 miles. Symptoms felt like power steering going out but no pump noise or low fluid. Steering became hard to turn and it sometimes felt like a tie rod was letting go.
Temporary resolution was to spray the two steering shaft joints with penetrating oil (PB Blaster). That freed them up pretty well. Then I ordered Dorman part 425361 (425-361) from Rock Auto. Simple enough job. Lots of good vids on YouTube.
I don't recommend spraying the steering shaft joints as preventative maintenance. Penetrating oil will get into the needle bearings and break down the bearing grease. That will cause the joints to fail over time.
Two side benefits, the truck steering is much smoother and small road bumps and potholes are much less noticeable. Feels like it was when new.
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Last week during some more aggressive driving i got a noise out of the front suspension area and immediately noticed the car had a much looser steering feel, I garaged the car for the week until i could take it into Lexus this weekend. However lexus couldn't find anything wrong with it, they found no codes in the steering system and no worn-out/broken parts in need of replacing yet it still has this vague steering feel to it even after I replaced the tires (245 front 275 rear PSS). What could cause this after they ruled out power steering systems AND suspension? It is still present on new PSS tires as well.
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I have noticed an uneven feel ( slightly ) when I turn hard left vs right. Its firmer when I turn to the left than the right. From the magazine issues I used to read when I look at directional skid pad results the right turn skid pad results are always lower than the left turn because of the weight of the driver.
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I have a 2006 Ford 150 FWD XLT. So here is the problem. I sustained right front damage in an accident and 4WD worked prior to and after the accident (before going to the shop). Before the accident it would easily lock into 4WD but would sometimes have trouble getting out of it. When I received the truck back from the shop and went to use 4WD a week later nothing happened No lights no nothing. I tried it in neutral, drive and reverse. I took it back and they said it was the shift motor and not related to the accident so they couldn't fix it. So I just bolted a new one on and still nothing. I checked the solenoid and it appears to be working. I also checked the fuses and still nothing. The shop did replace the right front hub assembly.
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When coming to a hard stop and downshifting using engine braking, is it normal to have the brake pedal feel like it loses pressure to where the brake pedal pushes down further towards the floor for a split second? What causes that to occur?
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I have a 2006 4.6L that's hard to start when it's relatively cold outside.
Normally, when it's warm outside, I can barely bump the starter, and it starts right up. But when it's cold outside, it usually takes 3 or 4 2-3 seconds of cranking before it starts. Even then, it has a really rough "about to die" idle, until about 10-15 seconds, and then it idles without a problem. Once it's running, it runs great.
It has 79k miles on it, and all I've done to it is put in a throttle body spacer, and a K&N filter. I've read a few posts from people that have had similar issues, that had K&N filters, but their problems have been more consistent. Mine only seems to happen when it's first started.
As far as I know, the plugs have never been changed, as with the COPs. I've heard about a vacuum line running to the throttle body may be the culprit, but haven't been able to find any more details on that, like where the line runs to, possible replacement part number for it, etc.
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2006 F150 5.4L, 4wd, Ext. Cab, 90k or so
In OD only, when passing gear kinks in going approx. 35 mph. transmission shifts hard...
Having transmission or TC problems? Hard shifting problems? Etc.
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I have an 06 F-150 4x4 with the 5.4L Flex Fuel V-8. The truck has 133,000 miles on it. This morning, the truck was very hard to start. It took me 4-5 times of cranking the engine for 30 seconds or more before it started. Once it starts, it idles fine. Out on the road, the engine cuts out and the truck bucks pretty hard. The truck doesn't die, and the issue is intermittent. I changed the fuel filter less that 10,000 miles ago. The Check Engine Light has NOT come on. What could my problem be?
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Just bought this '08 F250 CCSB 4X4 5.4 Problem is the steering seems heavy, it tends to wander at higher speeds and won't return to center after a turn. I've searched on here and found a few possibilities (axle u joints, ball joints, steering gear, etc). I have an appointment with the dealer on Friday to fix it under warranty but he is convinced it's the u joints in the steering shaft seizing. When my F150 steering shaft began to seize, it would be hard to turn then break free then be hard then break free and this is not what is happening on the SD. I haven't had a chance to check the front end myself but not sure how you would check the axle u joints if there was no play in them. How would you check to see if they were seizing up.
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I am having my trouble with my 06 F150 with the 5.4 V8. I purchased the truck back in the spring and shortly after the truck started misfiring. It was throwing P0306 for cylinder 6 misfire and that was the only code thrown. Seeing as it was out of warranty and right at the 100k mark I replaced all the plugs with Motorcraft plugs, and the plugs that came out were Champion, so it had already been done at least once. This didnt solve my problem at all so I started digging deeper. I replaced the coil pack on the number six cylinder thinking it may have gone bad, but this did not fix my problem either. I had somehow overlooked that the number two cylinder had a Masterpro coil pack that was made in Taiwan or somewhere like that, and after using the Motorcraft coilpack I had pulled from number 6 on cylinder two all my problems went away...until recently.
At the beginning of August my truck started the infamous ticking sound that we all know about. I ignored it for a while, but as I was moving off to college the misifre returned while going down the interstate at around 65-70mph. The truck lost pretty much all power and I coasted off the next exit to see what was going on. After making it off the truck was running perfectly, so I poked on home on back roads at slower speeds to be safe. The next day I took it to the Ford dealership to have them run a full diagnostic scan to determine anything that could possibly be wrong. After sitting in the waiting room for three hours as they searched the guy comes in to let me know they have ran every test they could and nothing was showing up, but the lash adjusters (lifters) on the passenger side of the engine needed replaced as that was what was causing the ticking sound.
Well today I start my truck to come to school and it felt slightly different, but once I accelerated all was fine. Once i left school this was another story though. The CEL was on and the truck was misfiring enough to feel a consistant buck from the engine. I pulled the codes and it is now giving me P0307 and P0316 which are misfire in cylinder 7 and misfire upon startup. What could this be knowing all the plugs have recently been changed and the dealer just inspected the entire engine?
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I've owned my IS F for a little over two weeks now, and I have noticed under several occasions under heavy breaking (close to 70-80% breaking capacity) that I have to fight the steering wheel to keep the car tracking straight. This is anywhere from speeds of 80-90 mph coming down to 40-50 mph. Could this be an issue related to the front control arm bushings? My F only has ~41,xxx miles and tires are brand new (OEM Spec) Continental ExtremeContact DWS. No other alignment issues known as the car doesn't track left or right either.
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I have an 06 4x4 lariat 4dr. 5.4L.... bought it used about 6 months ago with 107 K on it, and put a few thousand miles on it. haven't really had any problems with it, but I have noticed that when I break about 45 mph, my steering wheel gets shaky, I've tried reading on some forums but haven't really found anything very useful, and I alot of the information is on the '04 models. And honestly I"m just not really sure what to make of it all, and I don't wanna start replacing random stuff just taking a guess. I live in south texas at the moment and the air here it's salty, so I'm hoping that something just corroded and is warn...My guess is a front bearing.
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I have an 06 F150 2wd with the 5.4. Today on my way home I had to cross traffic while getting on the highway and had to get on it a bit. When I gave it the gas the truck down shifted then just fell on it's face until I let off the gas a little then it sped up like normal. It normally runs great but I don't get on it much. I just don't see why It runs great until I try to get a move on.
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So I have a 2006 f150 a wile back the steering started going stiff when I would come off the highway. so after some forum searching, I decided to buy a new steering shaft to repace the universals that see up. then the pump started squealing when we turned befor I could install the new shaft. so I replaced the pump and didn't put the new steering shaft in yet. now when I rev the motor past 2000 RPM the pump wines like when you turn the weeks to far to one side on an old truck and it is still stiff when I come off the highway. Could this be the rack
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I have an 2006 Super Cab that has 72,000 miles on it. Stock everything except for Magnaflow exhaust and Hankook Dyna Pro tires. Last month I noticed some weird "hang" ups with the steering when turning and it just seemed to be a bump or something while turning. I was gone on vacation last week and started the truck after a week of sitting and the steering acted like it was binding or hesitating. It almost felt like a tire was down, got out and check pressures, everything was good (high if anything and got it to the right pressures).
After driving it got no better potentially worse. I start a turn and it is fine but at a certain degree it starts to bind and seems like the power steering is not there. It does not return to normal position easily either. I have checked the fluid and it is fine, the belt is normal (and original) with no tears, or rips in it. Not sure where to start, but have a couple thoughts of power steering pump going or front end has issues? Best description of the problem is that it is a binding feel and happens both left or right turns. Have to force it like the power steering is out.
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Here's the story on my truck. Spits and sputters between 40-60 during heavy acceleration and on rare occasions will jerk/pop while at a steady speed. No engine or wrench lights. I thought it might be the fuel filter and changed that, it didn't work. I also ran two bottles (on 2 separate occasions) of Duralube extreme fuel system cleaner, that didn't work either. So, I took it to the Ford dealer for a diagnostic. They had a hard time getting it to act up but said it finally misfired on #8 and recommended replacing the ignition coil and plug. I did that, still have the same symptoms. So, I thought it might be the fuel injector and changed that. Still same symptoms and ZERO dummy lights.
After several YouTube videos, I thought it might be the TPS and got one. Before I changed that however, I cleaned the Mass Air Flow sensor, still same symptoms. I finally changed the TPS, but the engine wouldn't start or run at all, no warning lights yet. When I put the old TPS on, it would run. I unplugged the TPS and it still ran but very rough. Now the engine light IS on! Thinking I purchased a bad part, I took it back to O'Reilly's and they warrantied it out and gave me a new one. I had 19 PO codes. I changed the TPS again, and, it won't start or run at all. Put the old one on and it runs. They cleared the codes and told me they think it could be the ECM/PCM.
Why will a new TPS not work? I still have the same issue of hesitation @ 40-60 during hard acceleration. No hesitation during a moderate acceleration.
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Less than a week of driving the GS, the power steering suddenly seemed to stop working. After starting the car, the steering felt heavy (actually a good thing) but near impossible to turn during a standing stop.
Good thing I still have warranty. What turned out to be causing this?
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