Bad squeaking sound when turning wheel

[motorbret]

hey everyone, here's my problem
first the stats-
1991 Chevy C2500
132k miles
5.7L

this just started to happen. when i am driving and i make a rather solid turn, meaning not a real wide turn, but rather tight turn left or right. and also when i am just in park turning the wheel, i get a real loud squeaking/whining sound from the front of the vehicle. when i am driving the sound is kinda itermittent, but when i am in park it happens no matter what, no matter how much i turn the wheel. i talked to my buddy who is a master tech at a chrysler dealership. he said it could be the serpentine belt or possibly the power steering pump. to find out if it's the belt he said to put some silicone on the back side(groove side) and run the engine. so i also have question about that, all i have rite now is RTV Blue Silicone gasket maker, is that rite stuff? I searched through the posts and people mentioned just to replace belt if it may be bad, the thing is i replaced my belt not too long ago, maybe a month or two max. i also went through some books i have and one said it could be a loose belt. question on that, my truck has a spring loaded tensioner arm, in otherwords, it doesn't need manual adjustment, so how the **** would i increase tension? What if it's not the belt, how can i tell if it is for sure the power-steering pump and not say a bearing or control arm or something like that? please any help to any of my questions would be appreciated. thanks

 

[cryptokid]

its probably a balljoint or tie rod end.

 

[moribundman]

When your buddy said you should put some silicone on the serp belt, he meant belt dressing (Valvoline, Prestone, etc), which may temporarily remedy a squeaky belt. He was not talking about RTV silicone, which is a sealant.

I'm not sure why you can't tell if the belt or some other part is noisy. Does it squeak only when the car is moving?

 

[daze]

Yes, the belt dressing will work for awhile, then you have to reapply. Basically it breaks down the
belt and makes it tacky...so eventually you have to replace belt anyway. Sometimes a quick fix if you're not getting enough alternater output also.

 

[widman]

The use of a belt dressing would just be to diagnose whether the squeal is coming from the belt of the pump. with the pressure the belt might be slipping, which the dressing would quiet. The other source of the squeal could be the presure relief on the pump. This normaly happens most if the fluid is over full or under full. Many people fill them thinking that the top line is full and the bottom is low, but it is top full at hot, bottom full at cold (normally).
One question is -- does your steering effort change when it is hot? The sure sign of a bad pump is when the steering is effortless in cold and hard when hot. This can sometimes be fixed with a thicker fluid (Tractor Hydraulic Fluid), or an automatic transmission sealer (normally ATF with seal-swell additives).
If the belt dressing cures it, buy a new belt. Also, very often the automatic belt tensioners fali. I've had more trouble with automatic belt tensioners than with belts.