Hello everyone, new to forum. I have a 1999 Civic DX with about 130k miles on it. I've had this issue for quite awhile now but I am just getting around to addressing it.

There is a very high-pitched squeal coming from my power steering belt, most typically when I go lock to lock with my wheel (when I hit full right or left lock it makes this noise 100% of the time). The noise is the belt stopping in this position. This problem is compounded when it is very cold outside and I start my car up for the first time in awhile - then the belt stops rotating even with slight turns of the wheel not near lock. After about 10 seconds or so of driving and warming up this sound generally smooths out and goes away. Another thing to note is that I believe this is the belt I had to have replaced about 4-5 years ago when it broke completely. My current roommate who is extremely good with cars replaced it at the time and as far as I saw he did he correctly. The squeal issue did not appear until sometime after this.

I just changed my power steering fluid to see if that makes any difference whatsoever as I figured temperature dependence points towards issues with the fluid, but from anything else I've read most say it has to be the power steering pump. Would you guys say this is 100% the pump and it needs replacement? Basically just trying to avoid that if I can. Any ideas for tests I can do to confirm it if so? I'd say I'm basically a novice with car repair for what its worth but like I said, my roommate is very handy and can help.

 

It sounds to me like it's just a loose belt. You can pretty easily tighten the tensioner a little bit and that alone should fix the problem. However, if this noise has been happening for a while and if the belt is stopping completely or slipping, the belt itself may be damaged.

Read this little article on how to check your belts.
How to Check Belts | eHow.com