Whats up guys, I'm having some issues with my 09 Maxima 141,xxx miles. The steering is really stiff 90% of the time, but there will be random times when it suddenly loosens up and feels good as new. it doesnt seem to corelate with anything though (weather, wet/dry, temp, engine speed, etc). There is definitely a leak somewhere because the whole underside of the frame is covered in fluid, I'm not sure if its from the pump or rack/pinion, but in either case that does not seem to affect it.
I always keep the fluid topped off, and I recently added some Lucasoil stop leak after flushing the system, that did not seem to have any effect either. So basically I'm having a hard time tracking down the cause of the problem which id like to do before I just go and replace everything.
Also the stiffness is consistent throughout the range of motion of the steering wheel, it does not get easier or harder to turn at any rotation.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

Well first off you really need to find the source of the leak. With it being hard steering, my bet is that your power steering pump went out (which would be reasonable if you see the leak on the passenger side) I haven't seen many instances of the Rack going out but it is possible. I have seen high pressure hose issues but you probably wouldn't be able to keep any fluid in the reservoir if that were the case.

Re stop leak....not a fan but it is your car.

 

Replace pump, fix all leaks.

 

Thanks for the reply guys, I will probably just replace the pump in that case. I only used that stop leak to rule out that it was an issue with the fluid, i was very hesitant about using it but hey soon enough it will be flushed out and replaced with new fluids.