Three problems related to power steering pump have been reported for the 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
When my car first started acting up, the steering would kind of hang when turing to the left. I am not a mechanic so I thought it was the power steering going out. I changed the power steering pump which helped it some. About two days later my friend and I were going to school, while going around a curve to the left, the steering wheel hung again. I thought it would straighten back out but I was wrong. The steering wheel jerked to the right sending us off the road right into a tree at about 30 m\p\h. My friend suffered an injury to his hip and had to have surgery. My car was totaled because of severe damage to the front of the car. I never got the recall statement and have yet to. Gm has now said they will not compinsate me or my friend for damages sustained.
Motor belt slips when drivign through a puddle, power steering and generator is lost for approx. 30 seconds. Dealer claims that is normal.
The steering column in the consumer's 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier locked up. The power steering pump had to be replaced. The consumer received a recall for the problem in January 2003.