Hey all, I got a 07 g35 coupe AT with 160k on the dash.
For about a week now I noticed my steering getting hard to turn, so I figured it was a power steering leak and I could top it off if it kept being an issue. The issue continued and I went to top off the power steering and it seems to be not leaking at all, also the fluid seems pretty clean and not too "cloudy". So I had my wife go in the vehicle with ignition on and had her turn the wheel back and forth with the reservoir cap off to see if any bubbles were in the system. From what I can tell, no bubbles. But during this I noticed a "whine" coming from the power steering pump occasionally during the turning process. And when this noise happened it would be harder for my wife to turn the wheel, and when the wheel is fully cranked to the left or right the noise is continuous. My question is before I rip out this power steering pump and replace it, is there anything else this could be besides the pump? I would hate to go through all the work to replace the pump and it not be an issue.

Thanks in advance ik its a long read, cheers!

 

Sounds like a pump to me with the noise. The belt is fine, right?

 

Belt seems maybe a bit loose but nothing crazy. But will have to check when I'm home again with the vehicle

 

If it’s not lumpy through the full range I wouldn’t worry about the steering ujoint either.

good luck in your search.

 

Keeping an eye on this thread. My steering wheel has been feeling tighter than usual lately also.

 

It almost does feel lumpy all the way through during the turns. So maybe it is the u-joint? Not sure but I'll be replacing the power steering pump over this weekend and I will reply to this thread if it fixes the problem or not. Thanks everyone for the second opinions

 

What's nice about the steering u-joint is that it's easy to diy confirm if it's the cause of your problem or not. If you spray or dribble any kind of lube on it and your steering smoothes out for a short while, you know it's the u-joint. If it feels the same, it's not. Better than guessing at part swapping or paying someone to diagnose it for you. I don't think you even need to jack the car up. I think you can just stick your arm under there from behind the driver's front tire with a can of whatever and spray it. Like 5m to check it.

I agree that the pump noise kinda points away from the u-joint but the lumpy characteristic would point back at it. That's why it's just nice to lube it and see.