Steering has an odd stiffness?

Both conditions can be caused by a worn universal joint in the steering shaft. The drawing below shows two joints to inspect. Watch each one while a helper moves the steering wheel back and forth. Let me know what you find.

Then a standard system inspection is in order. Besides checking for looseness in tie rod ends, ball joints, and bushings, we would have a helper rotate the steering wheel back and forth roughly 1/8th revolution, and watch for which part(s) don't respond immediately.

Stiffness when turning is very commonly caused by tight universal joints in that steering shaft, but GM also had a problem we called "morning sickness" because it affected every single one of their front-wheel-drive cars with loss of power steering assist in only one direction, first thing in the morning when everything was still cold. The cause was deep grooves worn into the spool valve housing part of the soft aluminum rack and pinion steering gear assembly by the Teflon-coated sealing rings. As they warmed up, at first within a minute or two, the power assist returned. After a few weeks, the power assist was lost when turning in the other direction too. GM's fix was to install a new spool valve with new sealing rings. That was a temporary repair designed to get the vehicles out of the 50,000 mile warranty, then the proper repair was the car owners' responsibility. That repair was to install an aftermarket rebuilt steering gear with a stainless steel insert. This affected models back to the 1980s, and is no longer very common, but the same condition can still happen to any model, especially at higher mileages. The quickest clue to look for is the hard steering only occurs with the engine running. With the engine off, steering will of course be very hard, but you won't feel those tight spots.

Something else to consider during an inspection is the rack and pinion assembly itself. This is not common with GM's design, but watch to see if the assembly moves left and right when your helper works the steering wheel. Loose mounting bolts is accompanied by a knocking noise and steering wander on the road. Wear in the spool valve, (that's what directs the flow of pressurized power steering fluid), can require too much steering wheel movement to get the wheels to respond, but most of the time you'll also have power steering fluid leaking. That fluid can show up on the ground or inside right behind the brake pedal.

With as much steering wheel play as you described, the worn part should be fairly easy to identify. If not, the steering and suspension systems should be inspected by a specialist. Anyone at any tire and alignment shop can do that in a few minutes, and many do that for free. This can be done at other repair shops too, as long as they have a specialist for steering and alignment.

Here's links to some articles that will provide better explanations:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/power-steering-problems

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-car-steering-works

I included the last article because while shaking or vibrating isn't a symptom you mentioned, it has to be caused by something that is rotating, wheels and tires, in this case, but very often loose or worn steering and suspension parts will allow that shaking to be more noticeable. Sometimes a worn part can produce different symptoms on two identical car models.

I'll be back tomorrow to see if you made progress. Let me know what you find, then we'll figure out where to go next.

This type of binding, the way you described it, can not be caused by ball joints or tie rod ends. The bearings in the upper strut mounting plates can bind, but again, not in this way. While very uncommon, the only way the rack and pinion assembly can do this is if one of the front wheels was slid sideways, pretty hard, into a curb. Even that doesn't put the biggest stress on the steering gear. There would be other, much more significant damage. The only other way for the steering gear to do this is if something is coming apart inside it, and that almost always is accompanied by fluid leakage.

I'm still leaning toward the steering shaft. First, look for rust-colored stains around one of the universal joints. That indicates a cup and bearing that has failed. Next would be to disconnect that shaft on one end so you can rotate the joints easily. One of the joints can have a tight spot with no looseness, it can be sloppy but with no tight spot. What is most common is to have both in one joint.

Be aware that when you disconnect the shaft, it is imperative the steering wheel is not rotated without the corresponding rotation in the steering gear. The safest is to begin with the wheels straight ahead. Then, if you have to rotate the steering wheel a little to get access to a pinch bolt, keep track of which way you turned it so you can put it back the same way. By starting out straight ahead, you're free to rotate the steering wheel and shaft one revolution either way to check the joints, but again, bring it back to center the same way. During this time when the shaft is disconnected, do not rotate the steering wheel more than one revolution either way.

The reason for this is to ensure a solid wiring connection to the air bag, they can't rely on a sliding contact like we did for decades with horn circuits. Instead, a wound-up ribbon cable is used inside a plastic housing that sits right under the steering wheel. (That's called the "clock spring"). That ribbon cable is just the right length so it can wind up leaving a little slack when you turn fully one way, and it can unwind without folding over on itself when turning fully the other way. You're prevented from exceeding those limits by the end of travel each way of the steering gear. With the gear disconnected, those safeguards are gone. Now, turning the steering wheel too many turns one way will tear the ribbon cable, resulting in an instant "Air Bag" warning light and the system will turn itself off. Turning the steering wheel too many turns the other way will cause the ribbon cable to fully unwind, then fold over on itself on one end. If reassembled that way, that folding over will occur each time you turn fully that way, and will result in the cable breaking after days or weeks.

To boil this all down, just be careful to keep the shaft and steering gear in sync when you reattach the shaft. If you have to remove the shaft to inspect or replace it, I like to run a rubber strap through the steering wheel so it can't rotate on its own. On a lot of cars, steering wheels have a heavy spot on top. When the shaft is disconnected and you let go of the steering wheel, it will spin half a revolution on its own due to gravity. If that occurs while you're not there, you can't know which way to spin it back to the upright / straight ahead position. That leaves you with a 50 percent chance of getting it right.

Dandy. Very happy to hear you solved this. Did you find the binding in the old shaft?

You're welcome. Please come back to see us again.