My 96 Cavalier is whirrling and refusing to turn when i attempt to turn the wheel even with my entire strength

the belt to the power steering pump is slipping.

Worst possible case is it could be in the rack and pinion in the steering too. Which has nothing to do with the power steering, but that would at first be a hit and miss occurance then get more and more rapid. I hope it's not thought because it costs alot of money to fix it.

Belt slipping, or power steering pump failure.

Pop the hood have a friend start the car and turn the wheel. if the belt is slipping then you can just tighten the tentioner. If the belt isnt moving, then something has seized. if the belt isnt slipping, but the power steering is still not working, then you need a power steering pump replacement.

ther are a few things to look at is there any fluid on the floor or in ps pump is there any noise when turning .on some gm cars ps pump can be damaged internally belts working and tight and still no ps look to see if there is any circulation in ps res. one way in telling is to look at all the pulley to see if any is out of alignment. the steering rack could be binding causing problem brings us back to first question of noise also a collapsed ps pressure hose can cause problem of hard steering

Your power steering is toast, dude. It will only get worse if you don't take it to a shop. Pray that it is just the power steering and not the rack and pinion, because that is very expensive.

Good luck!

It's out of power steering fluid or a hose is broken or blocked. If you changed the hoses, you could have hooked them up backwards (unlikely)

i would say check your power steering fluid first before assuming the worst

the info. you gave is really limited, but I would say first check your power steering fluid level.

it's ur power steering all u can do is put power steering fluid in it or get ur power steering replaced.

you have no power steering fluid or your pump is bad.