Ran into this issue tonight out of the blue. This occurred when car is parked....I didn't notice it while driving, so issue might be there, not sure. When I turned the steering all the way to the left and all the way to the right, there was some grinding noise or something....can't really describe it. Some kind of weird noise...I opened the hood, and I think power steering fluid might be low...it was definitely below the "low" marker. The weird part is, I've had a leak for a while and got it fixed last fall. Why the hell is it leaking again? Is the leak what caused the grinding/vibration/whining? I held the steering (although it felt like it wanted to shake it back and forth) tight and after like 3 seconds, the vibration/grinding stopped.

Anyone got a clue?

Any help is appreciated!

 

Leak is occuring probably around the hoses attached to the pump. Inspect and fix the problem. That sound will occur when it is low but you have to fix the leak first.

 

But what about the grinding/intense vibration when I first turned it all the way to the left/right? It went away after like 4 or 5 seconds. Do you think my power steering pump is on its way out?

 

Hydraulic systems don't like air. What you are hearing is a hydraulic pump going dry. Fix the damn leak and refill. If you keep running it dry it WILL be toast.