‘18 Tacoma power steering whine

My son has an 18 Tacoma DCLB and it just started with the power steering pump whining in the morning on a hard turn backing out of his driveway. Unfortunately he’s 21+ hours away and I can’t diagnose it for him. Not sure of his current mileage but it’s not a high mileage truck.

I personally have not had any power steering failures, nor have I read of any. Anyone else have experienced this?

 

First thing to check is fluid level. (Especially when it's warmed up and running)

If his fluid is really dark it could be the fluid is thinning and just needs changed.

It could also be a pump just straight up failing. They do tend to whine before ultimately giving up.

 

He too busy to take 30 seconds to check the fluid level and check for leaks?

 

Fluid is likely low due to leaking rack, check fluid, check boots on tie rods