96 steering

My 96 Camry steering will not return to the neutral position after turning a corner. I have to actually pull the wheel back to the straight ahead position to overcome the resistance. It doesn't do this on every turn, but usually at slow speed in a parking lot. When turning the wheel back and forth while stopped, the resistance is not there. This is really scary, and I am taking the car in for repair, but I wonder what could be causing such unusual behavior. The car has 100,000 miles on the odometer.

Check the level of fluid in your power steering reservoir. Check your power steering pump drive belt tension.

Thanks for your suggestion about the fluid and the belt, but both were okay. We put the car on the rack and found a leaking power steering pump. Replaced the pump and the steering was still binding. Replaced the rack and pinion and the problem is now fixed. Cost: $1,000. You win some, you lose some. But I,m happy that it didn't fail on the highway.

Well hell, you didn't tell me that you wanted the expensive stuff first... :)