So maybe there's nothing wrong with the power steering. When the engine dies at speed you won't have power steering or power brakes whether you have a vacuum booster or hydroboost.

Did the engine die or just go to idle or what? If it didn't die but just threw the belt you would still have steering just a little harder to turn when moving. And a lot harder to turn when stopped or low speed. But if it died sometimes it's hard to tell since the key is on and you still have gauges.

More info needed please. And a little history on your truck. Were you able to drive it home?

Ted

 

Ted,

When this happened, the engine was still running for a hot second, but cut off right as i was pulling over. The belt was fine... The turning was difficult but not any harder than moving the wheel with the truck cut off. A history: it's an old Chevy.. It's broken down on me once before but due to the clutch needing replacing that time. And the battery died on me once (late spring/early summer of 2016) and we replaced that. When we bought it in 2013 it was not running and had been sitting under a tree for 8 years. All in all it's been fairly good to me though. That's all I know off the top of my head.

 

OK so I think you're dealing with an engine stall followed by a no start condition. You need fuel and spark (and air) so you'll need to determine if one of those is bad. The easiest is to prime the throttle body with about 1/2 to 3/4 oz of fuel. Just pour it into the carburetor-looking throttle body. Then try starting it. If it acts like it wants to start by running a second or two you know you have a fuel problem, most likely the fuel pump relay, fuel filter or fuel pump. Those are the easiest to change. It could also be a rusty fuel tank from what you said earlier but let's see what the priming test does.

When you prime it and it still doesn't want to start that leaves the spark (ignition) but try the prime test and let us know what happens.

Ted

 

There was a strong smell of gas after that and a good sized wet spot that covered the bottom of the back end of the tank.

That's not good. You may have a pin hole in that tank and rust inside it.