My 02 Frontier DR has started to make a light squealing/whining noise after it sets for a long time in cold weather. It only happens when I start it up and then turn the steering wheel in either direction. If I hold the wheel in either direction, it will make a continuous squeal/whine until let the steering wheel rest. After running it for a while and it heats up, the noise goes away. I'm thinking my power steering pump is going out? Any other suggestions? I'll have to look into it on my upcoming days off. I don't know any way of checking it but to just drain out the old and put in some new to see if that works.

If the fluid is up to the lvl and if it doesn't have a dead spot in it while turning, then I would leave it alone. It should go away after after a while. If it doen't then try bleeding the air out of it.

My truck just started doing this. Anyone have other suggestions to troubleshoot this issue?