just recently the steering has started to get tight. the belts are less than 6 months old, no squeal from the power steering pump, no spot on the ground; so I don't think the steering system is leaking, reservoir is full. I just got some new tires maybe 4 weeks ago, so I brought it back where I got them, they said something about a power assist switch??? The steering almost feels like there is no power steering... Does anyone have any clue what might be going on in this situation??

fyi car is an '05 convertible, and it has about 102K miles

 

It has 102k miles, that's your problem. :P Honestly I have no idea. The Z steering has always been tight, especially at higher speeds.

 

How does the fluid look? Is it bright red and almost clear or is it dark brown and opaque?

Suck the fluid out of the reservoir with a turkey baster and look at the screen inside to make sure it's not clogged. That's the first step.

New fluid and a clean screen may do the trick.

When was your last alignment? Have you bumped anything hard lately?

Asterix

 

I have been having the same problem with my Z (only 29k miles on it, 06). Whenever I start the Z the steering is really loose. Less than a minute after starting the engine the steering gets really tight, almost as if I do not having power steering. I also noticed that I can no longer toggle the TCS switch (light no longer turns on via the dash).

I also checked the power steering fluid and I had my buddy check to make sure the belts were working correctly as a sanity check. Today for some reason the steering stayed loose for a pretty long time but went back to being tight after about 30 minutes of light city driving.