I bought a used Toyota 1986 pickup and the steering wheel is fairly hard to turn. I can drive it just fine but it sure gives me an arm workout.

I'm not to keen on car maintenance but I'm guessing this is a problem with the power steering.

What would be the process of diagnosing this problem? Do I rebuild the power steering pump? Put in new ATF and see how it goes?

 

Is it mostly hard to turn at low speeds but fine at higher speeds?

First, have you checked that your truck actually has power steering? If you do have power steering, there is a gold / brass colored power steering fluid reservoir (ATF) with "TOYODA" on the cap that sits on the front left wheel well (on the right if looking at the engine bay).

Some base model trucks did not come with power steering, although most did.

Since this truck is new to you, you may not know what the previous owner(s) may have done to the truck. Maybe a previous owner removed the power steering belt?

Post some pictures of your engine bay so we can see what you see.

 

Thanks for the reply. I notice the steering is hard when parallel parking, pulling away from a curb, and other actions like that. Driving at faster speeds feels fine.

There is a TOYODA reservoir in my truck. I checked the dipstick and it looks like there's very little fluid in there.

It's a little dark right now but I'll post some pictures of the engine tomorrow when theres more light.

 

I attached the images. Hopefully they turn out fine. I wasn't sure where the pump was. I took pictures of the belts I saw and the reservoir should be imaged.

 

First image, top center, just below the distributor. This is the pump.

Fill the holding tank to at least the cold mark on the stick. Then cycle the steering wheel repeatedly, all the way left and all the way right, to purge any air while making sure the tank doesn't run empty or overflow. If it makes obnoxious noises it may need serviced or just more purging.

This will be easiest if you Jack up the front so the wheels are off the ground. Don't forget to chock the wheels and Jack stands, you know be safe.

Only ever use ATF, dexron. If the tank looks "muddy" you need to flush the old fluid from the system.

Hopefully it's this simple fix.

 

It has power steering pump and reservor.
Could be a bad pump. They can go bad.
Could be a leak and out of PS fluid. Am empty PSP is very stiff to steer