Hey guys, new here. I've had my stock '06 MC for a few years now but am just now running into this problem. I live in Iowa and recently we had a freak cold spell where the temps dropped own to below -20F. It's warmed back up but ever since the drop in temp, my power steering has been acting funky. The steering wheel won't really move at all. I've checked the fluid in the power steering resevoir and it doesn't seem like I'm losing fluid but I still can't turn the wheel at all. I'm not very mechanically inclined so I'm not sure if the pump itself is bad or what. I know that no one can properly diagnose the problem from here so I'm more or less just looking for opinions.

I've read somewhere that there could be air in the lines but I can't get the car off the ground to properly bleed the lines so I don't know what to do. Also, when I start the car, I hear a weird "bubbling" sound coming from the front end? It stops when I attempt to turn the steering wheel but resumes when I let go of the wheel. I have no idea what's going on and just wondering if anyone has an expert opinion on this or has maybe run into this problem themselves?

Any info/advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated! If there's some way that I can fix this myself, that would be ideal but if this is a repair shop issue then that would be a worst case scenario for me as I can't really afford that kind of expense.

 

Do you mean like its just hard to turn or physically won't turn like somethings broken?

Sounds to me more like a rack issue than a pump issue if it physically won't turn.

Bleeding is really just turning the wheels back and forth slowly to work the air pockets up to the reservoir. The thing is though- if the pump has always stayed full of fluid, then there's no reason for it to have air bubbles.

Also, even if its not fully bled, it can still physically turn just with more effort. It sounds like youre saying its literally jammed up?

Sounds like this is the big clue to diagnose it. Any way to get the front end off the ground so you can listen to it from underneath?

 

EDIT: After running the engine for about two minutes, I rechecked the fluid level in the reservoir and it seems I am actually losing fluid. There is a puddle underneath my car that wasn't there before. It doesn't appear to be a very fast leak as there is still some fluid in the reservoir but it is significantly lower than before. Also I am able to turn the wheel a little more but it still feels like there is no power steering being applied. I can't for the life of me figure out where the leak is, however. I guess my biggest question is: Is my PS pump bad? Has it quit? Or maybe just a line that has been split/cracked or whatever? I know you can't know that without seeing it, I'm just really hoping that I don't have to replace the pump as I don't have that kind of money...

No, the wheel will turn but it is *extremely* difficult to turn, even with the engine running. And I mean extremely difficult.
I don't know what this means, forgive me.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I did have to add some fluid to the reservoir after the big freeze but it doesn't seem like I've lost any fluid since then so I don't think it's a leak? Again, I'm not mechanically inclined, so I don't really know.
I did try this method and I did notice that the fluid in the reservoir was rather foamy and bubbly when I turned the wheel back and forth multiple times. But it's been about 2 weeks since and I just tried to do this again today but the wheel will barely move, even less than before and it was still very difficult to move before.
Sadly no, I don't really own any tools myself. I have the jack that came with the car when I purchased it but it didn't have the "handle" to the jack so it's basically useless to me.

 

The rack is the thing that actually turns the wheels. The steering wheel shaft plugs into its length and and arm comes out of each end of it to turn the tires.

I was thinking if you had noise under the car and it physically won't turn, that its not just a lack of power assist - but rather that the rack itself was broken/ seized.



It sounds like you're on a good path though - you've now got a known leak (which can be the source of the bubbles / noise / lack of assist). To figure out what's wrong, you need to 100% scrub clean the leaking area, then start it up and see where its coming from exactly. We need to fix the leak first to ensure its not pulling in air.


The bad thing is you're pretty much forced to have it towed somewhere to fix unless you're willing to buy some stuff. Even diagnosing it will be a massive pain without at least a basic jack/ jack stands or even a few 2x8s to drive up on or something. A pump is fairly cheap if that is the problem- maybe $45 or so for a reman, but you'll need tools to get it out.

 

This could be the issue you may need to have the fluid replaced.
Check to see what it looks like if it is dark it could be so old that it has jelled up ( like jello) and it can't do its proper working.