Steering hard to turn either right or left and A/C is blowing warm air?

I was driving the car listed above and started hearing a loud "crackling" sound come from under the front of the vehicle.

It's not my vehicle, so I wasn't sure about what maintenance was/was not performed, so I checked the oil level and it was low.

I put two quarts of synthetic 0W-20 oil in it. Once I turned it over and accelerated a little, the "cracking" sound went away.

I drove about two miles and parked the vehicle and turned it off. Once I got back in the vehicle and turned it over, it's not making the sound anymore, but the steering wheel became difficult to turn either right or left. I also noticed that the A/C was blowing warm air, where it was blowing cool air prior to turning the vehicle off and after adding the oil.

Wondering if there's any connection between these issues?