I know that the manual says to drive the car and warm up the power steering before checking the fluid, but is it possible to guestimate the level with a cold check? The steering is getting heavy, and I want to A: see if the level is reaaly low before I drive the car again, and B: add fluid conditioner even if it's nearly full.
Just make sure there is plenty in the reservoir. It's not critical in the way that the gearbox fluid is.
Check the tension of the pump drive belt. Forget the fluid conditioner (whatever that is) - it'll be made of snake oil. If in doubt, flush the fluid with new - instructions here (you may need to adapt them a little for your model):
I can't get that page to load beyond the header. Can anyone post an excerpt? I will check the belt, but since it is happening at cruising speed, and there is no squealing, I'm not optimistic...
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Slightly less complete version here:
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