A little over 18 months ago I noticed that my steering wheel seems to catch when I am making a slight turn such as on and off a freeway. It doesn’t have the same issue
when I am making hard right/left turns. I didn’t worry about it until one day, two of my children in the car, the power steering failed completely as I was going over 50 mph
on the off ramp to the freeway. I was able to control the car and avoid an accident and drove the car about 1 mile to the grocery store, which was my original destination.
I went inside for about an hour and when I came out the car was fine. It has only had one other similar failure in 18 months but I commonly feel the catch of the steering wheel when I am exiting the freeway. What I mean by a catch is that it feels as though I would have to jerk the steering wheel to be able to turn more sharply because it has turned as far as it is able to go. I have taken it to 2 Mechanics including the dealership and neither can recreate my problem.
Year, make, model, mileage, engine option?
Check your power steering fluid level first
Put the car on jackstands and crawl underneath
Any part of the steering visibly bent, damaged or loose?
I was leaning towards belt slippage due to a weak tensioner. But not knowing the car kinda makes it hard to guess.
Sorry, thought I mentioned that. It is a Hyundai Sonata 2006 120,000 miles
Original serpentine belt?
Past time to change it anyway IMHO.
I would do that second, after checking the fluid level.