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My dad’s 2008 Ford Fusion 2.3L L4 power steering just started making a vibration at the beginning of turning the wheel. This happens whether the vehicle is moving or not and in both directions. The vibration can be felt on the tires and the body so it has been hard to pinpoint origination. There is no whine from the pump and the fluid looks fine no air bubbles and still clear red color. there is no visible play on the rack and pinion or the steering wheel. Would this be indicating the pump is starting to fail or maybe the rack and pinion?
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If it’s a choppy kind of feeling, you should be looking at the upper strut mounts or bearings as it may be. It is possible they are binding a bit when they are on center and have trouble coming off, but once they move past that point they’re OK. Although it’s usually more of a creaky effect.
With someone inside turning the wheel, placing a couple of fingers on the top of the strut, if it’s the mount you’ll feel it right there as it happens.
You could also try isolating a couple of different things out of the equation, because as you described it it’s a bit odd to me. You could (properly with jack stands) jack up the car so the front wheels are off the ground and see if anything changes when steering is applied. Ruling out the hydraulic portion as there would be very little load on it. You could also try, even at the same time, to remove the belt and completely remove the hydraulic assist. You could test drive for a short time, like around the block. Assume you’ll probably get a CEL and have to charge the battery afterwards as alternators are NOT designed to charge the battery, only maintain said charge.
You kind of want to approach it by removing the effect a component could have and testing if the vibration is still there.
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