It's not guaranteed to be your problem, but it could be your power steering pump.

Just making this thread to help anyone experiencing problems remedy their problem.

A while ago, my car started making a squealing sound on cold startups. I thought it was just something that would go away, so I ignored it. A few months later, the squeal gets a lot louder and my steering feels really slow and heavy. At a stop, I turn the steering wheel and it takes a second for the power steering to kick in.

I go straight home to pop the hood and look for any problems. Half my belt is burned off, there's a loud squeal, and part of my frayed belt was slapping everything it could. I quickly turn the car off to examine it more.

The power steering fluid reservoir was 80% empty and fluid was getting all over the place in my engine bay and underneath. The engine bay was smoking due to the fluid hitting my passenger side header.

I called a flatbed and got it towed down to the nearest Nissan dealership, which was where I was originally headed to get my f'd up lower controls arms replaced. So now I'm late for my appointment, and down there with twice the problems I originally planned for.

Just got a call from the dealer confirming the problems. With emergency shipping (1 day), the total came out to $700, which includes the parts, labor, and a new belt. There goes my "fun" fund...

Just throwing this out there. If you experience a squealing sound from under the hood and you don't know what it is... be wary.

 

Ouch! Good luck with the ride Ben...

 

Thanks Val.

My butthole already hurts from being raped out of my money

 

Do a little more periodic inspections. You might be able to catch things like this before they get really bad...

 

Update -

I've been driving daily since the problem.

No more squeal on cold startups, the car doesn't feel "laggy" when accelerating slowly when not warmed up, and the power steering feels great.

 

I just bought a 03 350z and it's a fixer upper haha.
anyways on cold starts it squeals so loud my neighbor's probably hate me but it seems to have a new belt and when the squealing stops i put it in reverse and it starts squealing again so I put it in park again it stopped after a second or two but then I move my steering wheel and the squealing starts again could this be my (PS) Pump. And if so does anyone know where to get the right one

 

If the belt's not too worn, press your thumb on the longest part. It shouldn't deflect/give more than 10mm or 1/2 inch. Make sure your fluid is topped off and less than 5 yrs old. GL!

 

all of that seems to be good doesn't seem to be to lose or to tight and not to sure how old the fluid is

 

Also, one tip to GREATLY extend the longevity of any belt is to spray it with " " There is a guy on youtube that has a video on it. It's a good idea to do this every year or so to keep them from getting too dry, specially if you live in a desert area like mine where its 120 in the summer.