On a short 15 min commute to work you may see between 500 and 10,000 other cars on the road. A staggering number of these cars you have just seen are driving around with warning lights on the dash. These warning lights may be for the any system from the O2 sensor or air fuel ratio sensor to the gas cap being too loose, but what about your car? What is that sound from the steering when you are at slow speeds?
Most of us know that even if a car is not flashing a warning light it can still be having an issue. A moaning from the car at slow speed cornering is a sound that should not be ignored. This sounds is usually a sign of an issue with the steering pump, most likely the sound is being caused by air in the steering system. What happens is the air in the system will pass through the steering pump and cause there to be less resistance on the pump which in turn means it cannot function correctly. The groaning sound is actually the pump struggling to create enough pressure to keep up with the demand being put on the steering system. Some people may just ignore that sound and keep driving but this is a bad idea. These sounds are a symptom of failure but the system can be saved if caught early enough. 
The power steering system is set up so that the fluid pumped through the lines will press the steering piston the correct direction needs to maneuver the car as desired. If this system is not working in proper order steering will become very difficult. To get the air out of the system takes a little more effort than just pouring in more fluid. The system will need to be “bled”, to do this you will need to follow a few easy steps. First jack up the front of the car and with the reservoir open and the car off but the key turned to accessory begin to rotate the steering wheel. As steering wheel is rotated bubbles will begin to surface from the system and you will need to add fluid accordingly. Rotate the steering wheel about 30 times left to right once this process is done, replace the cap on the reservoir and lower the car.
With the air out of the system the moaning should have stopped, if not the problem is the pump itself. In the case that it is a bad pump, it will need to be replaced but this process can save a pump if it is just low on fluid. A steering system that is low on fluid gets that way through a leak in the system, the next step is to determine where the system is losing fluid. General upkeep and basic maintenance is the best way to keep your car on the road for years to come.
