I've always heard whines from my car, most definitely my power steering pump. On a few occasions when I start my car up in the morning, I've noticed I need to really push hard on the wheel to get it to start turning, then it's fine. And when I turn the wheel all the way to the left/right, I hear a hissing sound plus a whining sound. I've checked the fluid level, it's fine. Could my pump be going bad?

 

SO far, I think it sounds like a pump. You will probably notice a groaning or change in the whining noise as you rotate the wheel.