Volvo: hard steering, air conditioning compressor, resevoir

Question
hi
it's a 1987 station wagon
all of the sudden in a sharp u-turn steering became very hard
i checked to power steering liquid - it was empty
I filled it up and nothing changed
slower I move - harder it gets - super hard to turn wheels while
standing.
while parking it seems it is slightly less hard when moving in
reverse.
when I am driving  reg speed it's fine.

I had a similar problem on previous volvo i had - so I checked the
belts and nothing seems to be missing  - I just looked in general
for an empty space - I don't know which one it is at all.
would you know what might be a problem and how serious it
would be financially
thanks
Dubravka


Answer
If your power steering resevoir was empty, you probably ran the pump dry for long enough to destroy the power steering system, hence why it is so hard to turn the wheel.  My guess is you'll have to have the pump replaced (the thing with the pully going to it from the air conditioning compressor right under it.  It will probably run a few hundred dollars to replace.