do i need a new ps pump?
 

when my car is cold, there is a faint squealing noise until i either rev the engine a little bit, or turn the wheel... then its a horrendous squealing noise... i checked out whats happening under the hood, and the power steering pully is definately stopping when the wheel turns... the dealer tried telling me its most likely the belt is too loose? but wouldnt it make more sense if it was too tight??? and when it heats up its "okay"... and it sounds like you cant just replace the pulley, right? power steering pump? advice is appreciated....

Try to tighten the belt first and see if the noise is still present, then you should consider other serious options...

When the belt is tight, it wouldn't make that noise.

Some people either put some water on the sterring pulley and the squealing jsut go away... personally i would put just a couple of drops of ATF on the pulley, it lasts more than water...

alright... good, so theres a chance this'll be cheap at least... now i'm a saab and audi guy previously, and very new to this car... can anyone direct me to some info on adjusting the belt? or tell me how to do it?? thanks alot

Check this out. A PDF file to get rid of screeching in the how to documents. :)

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/How-To/30180.pdf

It sounds more like you need a new belt or tighten the belt, but it doesn't sound like you need a new pump. The belt slips when it is loose and under a strain. That will cause it to make the noise. If you tighten it, it will not slip which should eliminate the noise. Go through the How-To Documents for lots of good information. :)

To confirm...it's just the pulley stopping and not both the pulley and belt correct?

well, now... i tightened the belt, checked the pulley, replaced the o-ring, half/flushed the resevior... and after all that my a/c belt shredded once i got it all back together... a professional helped me out, and determined that the harmonic balancer pulley.. .(crank pulley) needed to be replaced as it was wobbling when i pulled the steering wheel and he could move it with his hands... can i get an upgraded one?

You have several options:

- get a used pulley with questionable use left
- get a new OEM pulley
- get a one piece lightweight pulley
- get a one piece lightweight underdrive pulley and new belts