This one has me stumped. The car is a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix SE, it has over 200K miles.
The car was difficult to turn left or right. I figured it was the power steering pump. This is the 3rd one put on it.(I thought the last one could have been damaged because I didn't bleed it good enough)
After changing the pump, bleeding the steering several times, even removing the older fluid in the reservoir and replacing with new(which I hadn't done before). This took care of overly stiff steering, but now it makes a strange noise when the wheel is turned left, but ONLY when turning. Once the wheel is turned left, (ie doing a big circle) there is no noise. That ruled out wheel bearing, wheels rubbing, etc because it only happens when the wheel's angle is being changed. So, to me it seems to be hydraulic in nature.
Now the REALLY strange part. After sitting overnight, it drives normal, NO NOISE. I drive around, 10-20 miles, then I turn it off, and immediately turn it back on, turn the wheel left the noise is back - and still only for turning left. After turning the wheel left for a normal 90 degree left turn, it seems to get a lot quieter. Overall it seems to be MUCH quieter than when I first started. So, I figure I'm improving it, but not fixing the problem.
The car went in 1-3 years ago for the factory recall on the rack and pinion. I don't want to take it back to the dealer only to find out it's something else, and spend 500-1000$.
So my question is, is this caused by the very same thing the factory recall was supposed to fix and they need to fix their "fix", or is this something else entirely?
I appreciate any help that anyone can provide,
Robert
