Power Steering Pump going?

[Wayland]

The car is an 85 Jetta NA, with power steering. The other day I noticed the steering felt stiffer. The strange thing is, is seems like it's stiffer when the wheels are angled, as for a fairly sharp turn. Closer to the center it feels more normal. The pump isn't making any unusual noises, there are no leaks, and the reservoir is full of oil. Could the PS pump be failing?

[Rabbit on Roids]

put some manual steering on there and see how it feels afterwards.

[Dakotakid]

Could the pump be starting to go....maybe.
What shape are your strut bearings in? As they go, there is a higher amount of resistance.

Just today, I replaced a tie rod end on a manual steering '86 Golf. The one I removed was just starting to have play in it (the rubber was rotted and cracked). So all of a sudden, the thing requires much less effort to steer....much easier to hold a beer now......

[Wayland]

After thinking about it and driving some more, I'm starting to think I might have a U-joint in the steering column siezing up. It's seeming like the stiffness occurs about every 90 deg of steering wheel rotation. I'm going to look into it more tomorrow.

[Wayland]

Just for fun, I squirted some WD-40 on both steering column U-joints this afternoon, when I drove the car this evening, I noticed the steering was beeter than it's been in a while. I guess I found the problem!

[Rabbit on Roids]

Just for fun, I squirted some WD-40 on both steering column U-joints this afternoon, when I drove the car this evening, I noticed the steering was beeter than it's been in a while. I guess I found the problem!

its probably just that most of your front end is worn out. rack and pinion probably arent far behind it.