steering pump, box...or??

[Serg911]

Hello, I have a '99 DII with about 76K miles on the clock. Since I've owned it, it has made a 'robot-like' sound, and it is more audible at low speed. I always assumed it was 'normal rover noise'. Well yesterday as I was coming home, turning into the driveway I felt the steering wheel rather hard to turn. Today I can hardly turn the steering wheel using two hands, how can I find out if it is the pump or the steering box that needs replacement?
Fluid is at level and serpentine belt looks ok. There are no leaks and have never been any leaks -at least not from the steering components- any help is welcome.
Yes I did search for the past hour for "steering problems", "steering issues", "hard to turn" but no luck finding anything that describes whan I'm experiencing.

 

[peter sherman]

jack up the front end & turn the wheel with the ignition off. if its still hard=you don't need the little blue pill

 

[ROVER 54]

sounds like the hydraulics are not working . I would replace the pump , a faulty steering box would not cause the problem your describing

 

[Serg911]

Peter, the 'lil blue pill is not alwas necessary but always welcomed. I figured it could be teh pump, is there any way to check before getting my hands dirty? how safe is it to drive? can I damage anything else if I drive it like that?

 

[peter sherman]

fix it! not safe! if you need to maneuver quick you might be in trouble. IE kill someone or your self!

It sounds like a pump issue to me. if you do what i said above it will tell you fro show.

 

[allenmj]

drove mine like that for a while, it sucked.

call Will.

 

[Serg911]

Cool, I'll get to it this week.
Thanx guys.