93 LeSabre power steering problems

I don't know why I didn't come here sooner. My Buick has been making this gruesome grinding/vibrating noise when I started it up and when the engine was at a low RPM. Well, I figured it was just the car being old and something rattleing when the engine was at a particular RPM. But then I noticed the steering getting really hard sometimes. Mostly when I am braking and turning the wheel. ESPECIALLY downhill. Well, I had my neighbor take a listen and he said the sound could be a pump. Thats when I put 2 and 2 together and realized the power steering pump must be making the noise.

My question is, is there any way any of you can think of to fix this problem without getting a new power steering pump? If I do have to get a new pump, about how much do one of those cost?

did you try topping it off or has it lost any fluid? Did this happen gradually or was it real sudden like? New pumps run from $62 to $160 depending on what brand you get. with the engine running, put your hand on the pump and see if you can 'feel' the pump grinding. It shouldn't move much if it's good. with it at idle have somebody turn the tires slowly and listen closely to the pump. Post your results please and good luck.

Thanks for the advice mudslinger! As soon as I get a few minutes with a friend, I will be sure to try out that steering trick. It seems to only happen when the engine hasn't been running in a while. I noticed the noise start happening last winter. But I didn't notice the wheel being hard to turn untill about a few weeks ago. I did top off the fluid, though it really didn't need any. I changed the vaccume hoses because the engine was idleing a bit rough, and that really seemed to fix the rough idle.

Well, I was able to put my hand on the pump when it was making that noise and I think I did feel it vibrate when it made that noise. It didn't when someone turned the wheel though. I just asked a different friend and he said it actually could be a number of other things but he neglected to tell me what as he was pressed for time.