power steering leak
power steering leak I have amassive leak. I have so much p/s fluid on the front of my engine now that its hard to tell where its coming from. I can fill it up and drive it to work and when I get off there is a huge puddle under the car.
I took the pump and resevoir off. I plugged the hose that goes to the resevoir to the rack and put 35psi of air on the outlet hose and it held it like a champ.
I tested the pump itself by using 35psi of air and it seemed to hold good. I tested the resevoir the same way and I lost air out of the cap but did not hear or feel any leaks anywhere else.
I just put the resevoir back on the pump and plugged all the holes and filled it with fluid and Im gonna leave it overnight to see if it leaks.
Im sure I know where it all started. About 2 years ago a buddy was helping me install my driver side motor mount and he was jacking the motor up higher and higher for me to get clearance. I told him to take it easy and he kept pumping the jack. Well all of the sudden I see p/s fluid running out of the car in a steady stream so I yell, let the motor down! When he lets the motor down it stopped. Well for the next 2 years I had a very small leak, not enough even for me to fool with it. I parked the car for a couple months and then started driving it again and it leaks bad now, very bad.
There are 2 o rings that I saw and I thought about the possibility of one of those being the culprit. Has anyone replaced these and had sucess?
Any ideas? Im open to anything. I will figure it out, but it would be nice to hear other sucess stories with this problem.
Sorry this is so long.
I took the pump and resevoir off. I plugged the hose that goes to the resevoir to the rack and put 35psi of air on the outlet hose and it held it like a champ.
I tested the pump itself by using 35psi of air and it seemed to hold good. I tested the resevoir the same way and I lost air out of the cap but did not hear or feel any leaks anywhere else.
I just put the resevoir back on the pump and plugged all the holes and filled it with fluid and Im gonna leave it overnight to see if it leaks.
Im sure I know where it all started. About 2 years ago a buddy was helping me install my driver side motor mount and he was jacking the motor up higher and higher for me to get clearance. I told him to take it easy and he kept pumping the jack. Well all of the sudden I see p/s fluid running out of the car in a steady stream so I yell, let the motor down! When he lets the motor down it stopped. Well for the next 2 years I had a very small leak, not enough even for me to fool with it. I parked the car for a couple months and then started driving it again and it leaks bad now, very bad.
There are 2 o rings that I saw and I thought about the possibility of one of those being the culprit. Has anyone replaced these and had sucess?
Any ideas? Im open to anything. I will figure it out, but it would be nice to hear other sucess stories with this problem.
Sorry this is so long.
I just went though this myself.
Sounds like your leaking out of the high pressure hose/fitting on the left side of the pump. When your bud jacked up the car, it probably twisted it enough to losen it up.
This is where mine was leaking too, and I couldnt tell thats where the leak was till I removed the pump. Replace the o-ring, examine the flared fitting and nut for damage. You might have to replace the whole high pressure hose. Its about $100.
Sounds like your leaking out of the high pressure hose/fitting on the left side of the pump. When your bud jacked up the car, it probably twisted it enough to losen it up.
This is where mine was leaking too, and I couldnt tell thats where the leak was till I removed the pump. Replace the o-ring, examine the flared fitting and nut for damage. You might have to replace the whole high pressure hose. Its about $100.
im guessing its the return line! when you jack up the motor you have to be careful on the cares without the factory power steering cooler! the return line is directly connected to the reservoir, and usually the plastic reservoir gets damaged or the return line rips from the insides and becomes unnoticeable!
If there's that much fluid leaking out, it could very well be a combination of all 3 factors--high pressure and return line, plus the pump itself. With a PS leak, you should have it taken care of immediately because the alternator is right below.
