It's raining pretty hard out. I was driving along and everything was fine. I came to a stop and went to turn the wheel and it was very stiff, I couldn't turn it much either way before there was tension. I also noticed that my volt meter was reading in between the bottom mark and the 13. When I went to take off the car stumbled a little, I didn't notice how the rpms were acting though.
The only thing I can thing of was right before I stopped I ran over a puddle and a lot of water was splashed around. Could this have reached my alternator not giving me good charge and afffecting my steering. It was kind of scary pulling onto the main road, not knowing how your steering would act. So I pulled back into the parking lot when I could and everything was fine, and fine the whole way back about 16 miles. Any ideas?

 

sounds like you answered your own question, you probably splashed some water up onto the belts and they were slipping a little. just make sure to watch it for a few days before you trust it agian. just in case.

 

Correction - UNINDOCTRINATED IS NEVER BEING TOLD--- INDIVIDUALISM IS NOT LISTENING TO WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TOLD.

And yeah, sounds maybe like belts were slipping, or RPM's REAL low. I know On cold mornings, if I let my car idle 2 operating temp - it'll run just under 500, and when I put in rear w/ heat, degfogger, wipers, and radio, it'll damn near stall, and steering goes pretty stiff, so maybe ya got a little rpm dip or something.

 

damn - Double post...

 

Belt-slip, Mark.
Your steering is purely a hydraulic system that is fed by a pump which is run from the belt.

You probably have a semi-serpentine setup and the alternator & pump are on the same belt. The belt is probably glazed, or else your tensioner is corroded & stiff.

--Dan