Normally a Power Steering pump is easy for me to diagnose- it whines.

However, I'm getting NO sound from it at all. However, my steering is very "jumpy", like I get power steering for a second and then It drags. As the car warms up, I get less power steering, and the higher the RPM the less power steering I get.

Its very cumbersome to steer the wheel, but I feel like I get some support at slow speeds, but its still jumpy. Still hard, but certainly not as tough as a true no-power-steering situation.

Anyway, My best guess is a power steering pump failure. It doesn't seem to correlate with any rack and pinion failure I've ever heard of, but its going to be cheaper to replace a Power Steering pump than diagnose it at a shop.

Anyone see anything differently?

 

Have you checked the fluid?

Also, have you tried exchanging the fluid?

 

Fluid level looks a little high actually. Could replacing fluid actually help?

I have 240k miles. I can try to replace the fluid but never would have guessed that could help?

 

Powersteering fluid is like hydraulic fluid. It should be replaced about every 100k/10 years. More if you do a lot of turning.

You should make sure it is in the proper level too.