I have a Freestar 2007, 4.2l, 130000 miles. I drive it 8 hours a day, five days a week to do deliveries.
For a week, the steering has been getting stiff once in a while and always at low speed, like when getting out of a parking spot or turning a corner after a red light. But not all the time. And as soon as I pick up speed, it goes back to normal.

Today it did this 7 times. The last time, I was getting out of a driveway and I had to make a thight right turn to enter a narrow street into the traffic. The steering got stiff. While waiting for a spot, I put the transmission on neutral, gave a little gas and the steering went back to normal.

I flushed the system a month ago and there are no leaks. I checked the belt. There are no cracks but honestly, I do not know much about these things. I pressed hard on the belt and could move it down by almost one inch. I don't know if it's thight enough...or loose. How about the pump? I don't think I can hear the usual noise of a faulty pump.

Any idea?
Thanks

 

Had the same issue years ago with our 2004 Freestar. You probably have a bad steering shaft U-Joint. They are non-greasable and set down where all of the crud hits it. It's a cheap part and relatively easy to replace. It just bolts between the steering shaft and the rack. I would go for that before a pump. To check and see if it's the U-Joint, spray it down with some PB Blaster. It should free it up for a while until the PB Blaster gets washed/worn away.