I bought a used 2011 SEL FWD Edge for my son, I noticed the car was pulling to the right and took it for an alignment. They informed me that the steering rack was leaking and that it needed ball joints and lower control arms replaced. I figured I would do all the work at once. I dropped the front clip, replaced the rack with a new (not reman) unit, new sway bar links and bushings and lower control arms. I took it for an alignment and everything was looking good but I did notice that the steering was a little tight when turning one direction. I read that it could be because of air in the system that would eventually work itself out. This was all in December. Now the vehicle seems to have even harder steering and I have read that if the rack was leaking for a long time that the pump may have failed leaving it unable to provide the necessary pressure to assist the steering properly and that changing the PSP should alleviate. Having seen the location of the PSP it sucks to access. I wanted to see if anyone has experienced this and what they may have done to correct it. The shop that recently looked at it said it might be an electric steering assist issue, however I believe it is only a hydraulic system. Any help would be appreciated.
