[hankcah]

Power steering went out while driving home today. Was able to drive it home.
(the past few months I've been noticing a noise/squealing from the belt. Has been really annoying but would go away after about 10+ minutes of driving.)

Today as the power steering went out, and attempting to drive it to the local shop, it was SUPER loud. So I didn't even bother pulling out of my driveway.

How can I narrow this down more?

Do you think it's the PS pulley? What are the signs of the power steering pump vs pulleys/belts.
Would turning on the heat vs A/C help troubleshoot this? Would low PS fluid lead to these issues?

Also, no SES lights came on the dash. Which leads me to think it's the pulleys or belt, as I'd think a sensor there is less likely than on the PSpump.

Thanks

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

First thing would be to inspect the belts visually and check the power steering fluid level.

If no obvious signs like low fluid and/or worn or torn belts then it's like the Power Steering Pump that has failed.

It's not unheard of for the power steering pump to fail on this car, I've seen it happen on cars with under 30K mikes, if I recall correctly there is no check engine light for a power steering failure as it's a mechanical pump.

Active Assist or electronic power steering cars would likely throw a light if there was a malfunction that tripped a code.

[hankcah]

If the belt failed, then wouldn't the car simply not start?

If the PSPump failed, would it ruin the belt? Do I understand correctly that the PS Pulley and the Pump are connected at the hip, so if the Pump fails, the pulley fails, which leads to a prematurely worn/tearing belt?

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

First thing would be to inspect the belts visually and check the power steering fluid level.

If no obvious signs like low fluid and/or worn or torn belts then it's like the Power Steering Pump that has failed.

It's not unheard of for the power steering pump to fail on this car, I've seen it happen on cars with under 30K mikes, if I recall correctly there is no check engine light for a power steering failure as it's a mechanical pump.

Active Assist or electronic power steering cars would likely throw a light if there was a malfunction that tripped a code.

[musc]

Also the 07 and some 08s had the issue withe powersteering pulley hitting the subframe. There was an SIB for it, SIB 11 09 08.