could my valve cover leaking/being cracked cause a vacuum leak?
and i think my powersteering box is going bad

last night while i was leaving work, the wheel was real "chunky" feeling and felt like it was manual steering for about the first 30 seconds i drove it. then it went back to normal. what would cause that? the pump has the correct amount of fluid in it.
and how does the defroster hook up? i put in all the air ducts under the dash, and it blows out of the vents again, but not from the top of the dash, so my defroster doesnt work.