The power steering pump was whining. I pulled the cap and heard a sucking sound. The fluid was a little low. I seen fluid on the garage floor. The pump never leaked before. Could it be a valve sticking? Or is it something with the rack and pinion steering?

Put a clean piece of cardboard under the engine when you park overnight, and in the morning see where the leak is. You should be able to tell if it is coming from the pump or the rack.

To 2kg4u thanks for your reply earlier. I haven't had the chance to update but I have had progress. I found the leak it was the pressure line from the pump to the gearbox. The culprit was a plastic inner fender panel that for nearly 12 years had been resting on the line. The panel wore a hole in the line and was spraying up onto the air conditioning compressor. I have a new line and currently am working to replace it. For anyone unaware I will quickly describe what I am up against. The pressure line from the pump routes down to the subframe and heads forward. Just behind the radiator it moves across the support to the left side of the car. It bends and then returns following itself back to the subframe past the engine back then to the gearbox. I have both ends of the line disconnected and am trying to remove the old line without destroying it to figure out a way to get the new line in place. The portion of line that is under the firewall going to the gearbox has a sharp bend in it that will not allow it to get past the axleshaft. I hate to admit it but I feel my only solution is to remove the bearing hub assembly to separate the axleshaft. I feel if the shaft could be moved the pressure line might pass by it and make it out of the car. Is there any knowledge of a better way to do this that doesn't involve the bearing hub and axleshaft ? I put in the bearing hub assembly a few years ago. The manual said to use new bolts. That was very true because the original bolts had to be destroyed to be removed. What I bought from the dealer were bolts of a soft grade steel. Basically just to torque the bolts they began to round off the heads. I feel to remove the hub bolts may mean possibly destroying the hub assembly. Would anyone with experience replacing this pressure line have any tips to help this along? That would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Can you reposition the axle shaft by how you are lifting the car. In other words, if you are lifting the car on the frame and the suspension is left to dangle, try lifting by the suspension to keep it compressed. Or the other way around. Perhaps lifting the car a different way will change the axle position to give you the clearance you need.

What happens if you feed the line from the rear moving forward, rather than from the front moving backward? That way you would start with the bend on the correct side of the axle shaft.

i pull that line out the right side. if the drive axle is in your way,separate the ball joint and remove the axle from the trans and swing it out of the way. Or support the body and lower the right side of the cradle with the ball joint separated enough to remove the cooler line.

If that is the line that goes forward and is attached to the front of the cradle, it'* a nightmare....

I had a lift, and an engine support from above......disconnected the line from cradle and dropped the cradle several inches..... a lot of work for a line....GM should have had a two piece line there.....