This is great advice, what you're doing here is purging air out of the system.

Driving before hand just warms up the fluid, it's not really necessary.

 

Well I'll do that after I finish my brakes. Just had the best nap ever

 

Ok so I tried it twice not much better even took the cap off and drove around like Paul wall for a few minutes. It's more like the first day the stiffness started but not back to normal.

Any other options?

 

A little better this morning do in going to try another 20 each way. Gonna have big arms I keep this up

 

Well idk what the difference from 630 to 1230 is but the steering feels almost completely normal now. Really glad I didn't have to change the power steering pump after all.

 

And the noresponsivenss of my steering has returned.

 

What're the condition of your lines? No leaks?

The system could be pulling air in without leaking, but that's not the most likely scenario.

Has the front end been inspected?

Has the vacuum switch for the PS been tested?

Follow the procedures for your specific issue, step by step, and you'll find the problem.

www.nicoclub.com/fsm

 

That site is amazing. I'll look this over and see what I can find this weekend.
Thanks man

 

dude my issue came back, also. I also suspected it could be drawing in air, but from where I'm uncertain. it's so frustrating. Keep us posted and I'll do the same.

 

Well I'm just starting to read through the manule but I went to the grocery store and it was completely fine(I did nothing but park) and then as I pulled into the parking lot it was hard out of no where.

It makes no sense to me. It's on and off and on and off randomly. Gives me hope it's not the pump but not much hope that it's a simple fix.

 

take the cap off your PS reservoir and turn the car on, you should see the fluid flowing... I did, but my issue still occurs T_T

 

Ok so update. My spacer just came in to Nissan for my pully delete and belt change. So I'll be fully inspecting the system when I do this mod.

As for now the feeling gets bad gets better gets bad agian. Idk what is going on I've never heard of the issue being so inconsistent like that before.

 

My issue is about half as bad as it was on day 1... It got worse, but it's been consistent for the past few days. We'll see what happens, it's tolerable for now, the wheel even corrects itself completely, though not as fast as it does under normal conditions

 

Most likely the problem is the u-joint where the steering shaft goes into the rack. U-joint seizes up. Not really easy to confirm without a hoist, but disconnect the steering shaft from the rack and check that the u-joint moves freely in all directions. Probably not a good DIY. Would not be the first g with this concern.

 

Well I changed the belts and they were super stretched. Also deleted the idler pulley not that it affects the system in question but while down there I checked everything over (minus the u join the way you said since I just read that). Visually there are no leaks and no cracks in the lines everything looks nice. The steering does feel a lot better from the belts and it's just a little low on fluid (maybe just from all the air?) so when I get home I'm going to top up. If it was just air and the belts I may not drain from the steering joint agian.