00 Boneville fights to steer almsot like no P/S

[Liability]

So im pulling into work today and when im going in my spot, i hear the steering click (it usually clicks because the intermediate) but it clicked different. in a rush to not be late i turned off the car and went into work. when i was pulling out i couldn't turn the wheel, then when it started to budge its extremely difficult and feels almost like its fighting you to get back to center.

i checked the belt, the steering fluid level and looked for leaks under the car, i drove all the way home like this (15 minutes away) and im trying to desperately figure i out. Its my only car and i have work tomorrow morning too!

car is a 2000 Boneville SE, well taken care of and 154k on the odo. the steering ALWAYS clicked and i was hearing a slight whine on the first minute of driving on a cold startup, but i never really looked into it much, i just thought this car was junk (which i still think so) and it only has to last until after winter when im off work for a bit and i have my motorcycle. please help.
Thanks.

-Nick

Also: Another strange thing was 2 weeks ago, i was going around a sharp turn, about 10km/h, very sloww, and i just tapped a curb when the car slid when i had it turned almost all the way to the right, this happened for about 8 seconds then it started working fine again, if this event has any relation to whats happened now,

[willwren]

Please don't post mechanical problems in General Chat. I'll move your topic to the proper section for you.

[Liability]

FIXED...


It was the P/S pump, but what happened was the shaft that goes into the pump snapped and it created such a backpressure on the bottom fed line that it was pressing against whichever way i steered. when i loosened the bottom line i got a huge hiss of air and fluid coming out, and when i took off the serpentine belt it pulled and the shaft from the p/s fell out and fluid went evrywhere. i went to a local wreckers and got an 04 LeSabre pump, direct swap and works even better than it did from stock! the whining on startup sound is gone and its just silky smooth. i filled it with about 200ml of NoLeak and 500ml of prestone p/s fluid. and turned it back and forth with the cap off to get all the bubbles out.

also from the old pump my fluid was sludgy and black... what happened there?

[crash93ssei]

All the sludge could likely be metal shavings from the pump destroying itself over time. It would be a good idea to try to flush the fluid out and get all new stuff in there.

[Liability]

how would i go about flushing the system?