99 cougar questions?......help

my girlfriends cougar every once in a while when you start it the power steering pump makes a howling noise if you turn the wheel back and forth it will go away. any of you heard of this?
also has any one tried or heard of trying to put a 5 lug conversion beacause damn 4 lug custom wheels or ridiculous....$.
any info would be great ... thanx guys
Blown R1

This might sound stupid but did you check the power steering fluid? If its full then you could have a bad power steering pump or steering rack.