Went to get into my car yesterday and noticed a puddle just behind the right front tire. Started the car up and noticed the steering was very stiff. Shut it down and had a look under the hood. It turns out all the power steering fluid has leaked out all of a sudden. I partially filled the reservoir but it was hard to see if it was leaking from a hose or from the rack/inner tie rod. Is it common for a seal to just go without any warning,no drips at all previously. Anyone have a similar problem?

 

I've got a slight drip from the rack. It developed immediately after I replaced the cam-cover gasket, stopping the engine oil drip. Couldn't very well have a dripless X300, I guess...that'd mean all reservoirs must be dry! I have to top it up about every two to three weeks. For now, I look at it as forced pwr steering fluid renewal.

 

Well,my first thought was to get a rebuilt power steering rack. I've found several on Ebay in the $250-350 range that come with a lifetime warranty,although not so sure their rebuilt units are that good. Another option I may try is using Lucas Stop Leak for power steering. I've used many of the other Lucas products and they seem far superior to other products on the market. I've never been a fan of any stop leak products,but for $10 it may be worth a shot,at least a delay in me having to get on my back and replace a steering rack. We'll see if or how long it works.

 

I got a rebuilt steering rack from Coventry West last year after replacing all the hoses for the power steering to stop the leaks. You can go a few years topping it up, I did, but eventually you have to fix it. It was half the price of the OEM, about 700 with a return of the old rack.

 

My power steering system sprung a leak a while back. Although it did not come on suddenly, over time, it got much worse.

My issue was a leaking hose - #19 in this fiche:





At first, I thought it was the rack, but turns out the fluid sprayed back on the unit, making it appear the rack was leaking.

Anyway, the hose has internal wound tubing and is then covered with the outer skin. The leak was internal - the tubing had gone bad and the outer skin, because of its age, had hairline cracks here and there.

I removed it and took it to a person who owns a hydraulic hose build / re-build service. I watched him build a new one (he reused elbow steel tubing section where there is no outer cover) in about 20 minutes - he used new fittings too. The new unit far exceeds the original, spec wise, and will probably last beyond twice as long as the original. And it was less money than purchasing a new one.

Don't let the fiche drawing fool you - that hose is pretty long, it reaches from the pump area to the rack on the left side of the car.

I would suggest you spend the time to ensure it is *not* leaking at the rack - I suspect hose failure will happen before the rack does.

EDIT: Clean all the components with degreaser, then start car and put the steering system under pressure, then search for the source of the leak.

 

Well,the bad news is that it definately looks like it's the rack that's leaking. It's dry where all the hoses are and it seems to be dripping from the outer end of the right boot,just on the inner wheel well. The top of the boot is dry and so is the surrounding area. It leaks enough fluid overnight that the system is empty by the next day. So,now for the good news. I decided to try Lucas power steering stop leak. I've had great results with all their other products I have used so I figured,why not take a chance since I needed fluid anyway and it's about $10 for a 12 oz. bottle.I added the entire bottle and topped it off with regular Dexron VI fluid. It still was dripping for a few minutes but I believe that was from the remaining fluid in the steering boot. After running for a few minutes and letting the air purge from the system,I decided to take her out for a ride. It was actually about a 30 mile ride around town making quite a few turns,and stopping once in a while to check on the fluid level. So far it seems to have held up without leaking out. Thumbs up for another great product by Lucas! I'll double check tomorrow but so far so good.

 

Update : The fluid level held up overnight. I took her out for a hundred mile run today and she ran like a champ. The P/S fluid stayed at the correct level the whole trip. We'll see if it hold up long term or not but I'd like to eventually replace the rack anyway,just for peace of mind. We'll see in the coming weeks if the leaking comes back. Always been happy with Lucas products. They do what they say they're for.