Yesterday i was driving around like usual and i made a stop at the local walmart. when i was leaving the parking lot i noticed that my steering wheel had an extra 90 degrees on play in each direction i got home checked the powersteering fluid and it was full.

One thing that you don't want to overlook, would be a brake holding you back. To rule this out you would need to drive it , making a few normal complete stops and l0 to 15 minutes, giving everything long enough to warm up. Then pull off into a parking lot out of traffic and get out of the vehicle and walk around it , touching the lug nuts or in that area of each wheel, feeling to see if one wheel is noticeable hotter than all the rest. Usually the front wheels run about the same temperature and the back about the same. Or jack each wheel up and see if they turn free. This needs to be done in neutral.

Quite often that will happen when vehicle parked with wheels turned, and/or vehicle on a slope, so try to avoid that in future.If nothing else, when parked on a slope, stop, keep foot on brake pedal, apply parking brake, put transmission in neutral, then take foot off brake pedal and wait for parking brake to stop vehicle rolling, then shift it into park. When leaving, put foot on brake pedal, shift to drive or reverse whatever direction your going, then release parking brake. Sounds like a lot to remember but you won't have to pull hard on shifter as before, and it could save a lot of money on transmission repairs down the road. Always try to park with wheels straight as well.
Now, with that said, if you parked with wheels turned, try hard to turn steering wheel in same direction wheels are turning, just slightly, as you try to turn key. Sometimes a quick yank in that direction will do it. Also make sure shifter is all the way in park before you try it. If your on a slope try rocking vehicle slightly up slope as you push/pull shift lever in to park and try to turn key at same time. If no luck, try pushing brake pedal real hard and try to turn key. Let me know how it goes.

the batt is suspect...take it to autozone, or other place, they'll check it out free......the shifting out of park is a seperate issue, the pawl for the steering/shifter is not working properly....did you notice if the steering wheel would turn when the shifter is stuck?....probably not....when this happens try to turn the wheel back and forth-not hard but not gently- a little graphite dust sprayed in there would help.......hope this helps you out

well where ever it's leaking from I'ld assume. You have to look at the vechile and inspect the steering pump, power steering lines, steering box or rack and pinion which I belive you should have. Should be easily noticeable if it's leaking that fast. Can't find it, fill system up, have someone start car turn wheel side to side and while he is doing this look again. Just be safe of moving parts and spraying liquid.

All lights are supposed to turn off when a subaru key is off right? No! There is a switch on top of the steering wheel column that will turn on lights for warning when parked. You somehow have hit that switch.

My first reaction to what you describe is the front CV joints. If worn these will click quite loudly on a slow hard turn such as in a parking lot. The steering vibration is probably wheel balance and although not related, one can make the other worse. First off ckeck your front wheels for bends or curb damage. Check the tyres for uneven wear, bulges, or blisters on the side walls and beneath the tread. Check your front brake rotors for scoring and grooving. And check around the front axles inside the front wheels for thrown grease. Check the boots on the CV joints for splits or other damage and deterioration. If you find all or any of these things, have your mechanic give you a price to replace the faulty components. We usually use rebuilt CV joint assemblies, on an exchange basis.

This is usually caused from air in the power steering system. On more then one occasion i've experienced this after doing a brake job or an alignment. Because you turn the wheels with out the engine running you move power steering fluid throughout the system aerating it. The fix is to simply turn the wheel lock to lock repeatedly with the engine on and parked. This will "bleed" the system. Oddly Explorers are the only vehicle i've ever seen this happen to. Unfortunately it looks like you replaced the wheel bearing needlessly.

hi , if like a similar problem i had years ago , the problem is either a bad connection on the steering wheel or an earth fault on the horn its self ? the car i had the fault on was a mk1 golf and under the steering wheel was a copper strip round the neck of the wheel where its connected to steering rod.....the connection (similar to a motor armature brush) was not making a good connection, i cleaned them with wire wool and hey presto. hope this helps??

Grab steering wheel very hard try to turn it in either direction, very hard and turn key at same time

Hi Dan

You did not indicate whether you checked the fluid level for your power steering. Please check this first. Please read your owners manual for specific instructions!

You may be low on fluid.

The next step would be to check your engine belt. The power steering pump is driven by a belt. It is possible that you have a loose or worn belt that is not able to turn the pump sufficiently at idle, but when you rev the engine higher, the pump produces sufficient power. One way to test this is to rev the engine, then try to turn the wheel, see if you notice any difference. Let me know.

Brian