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Power steering fluid leaking

f2raf

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Location
Rochdale
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Honda Accord
Steering was not smooth and making sci-fi noises, inspected ps fluid, reservoir was below min level, topped it up, past max, after 1 day its dropped down to just under max. Suspect leak somewhere. Any idea where I start. Please
 
Could be anywhere tbh start with the top hoses and work your way down to the rack. Ideally with someone moving the steering wheel back and forth and the car jacked up fullly at the front and engine running.
 
Prime suspects will the the top hose up near the rocker box, or the metal cooling loop that runs across the front of the car.

Don't discount the rubber pipes going slack at the reservoir either. I had to trim 1/2" of each of mine for a nice snug fit again as it was weeping.
 
After 6 months of now topping up the PS fluid, its been in the garage for a diagnosis twice now but can't locate the leak. The steering rack and underneath is all covered in oil which doesn't help. So I've had they bottom end and engine bay jet washed tiday, its back in on Wednesday so hopefully they will be able to locate the leak.
 
Just last week my PAS oil cooler developed a significant leak, which emptied the reservoir. Because the journey was up the M5 at speed, the oil was blown backwards to cover the engine undershield and ran along the driver's lower wishbone to even coat the wheel!

Pretty easy to check the cooler for leakage by shining a torch through the grill under the numberplate.

The replacement 'cooler'(nothing special, just a shaped 10mm OD steel pipe, no brackets, no fins) is stupidly expensive from Honda (Lings comes in at pretty much £200 with the VAT!!!). One option I considered was to make a whole new cooler using soft copper pipe (£22 for a 10m reel at Screwfix), but in the end I sawed out the ~40mm corroded lower portion and replaced it with some braided fuel pipe.
 
so back at the garage today and tossed back to the jetwahs place as they hadn't actually removed the oil from the steering rack. Th emechanic pointed the area out to me, it is towards the rear of the engine at the bottom end, there is something like a black rubber ribbed sleeve on a pipe which is covered in oil and he suspects it maybe a seal gone in here, also the area above it was covered in oil, its all been removed now, but it sat the back of the engine, not the front so cant be seen via the grill. Its back in tomorrow, so we will see again! he thinks the bottom end may have to come off :eek:


Jon_G said:
Pretty easy to check the cooler for leakage by shining a torch through the grill under the numberplate.
 
I'm ***uming that he thinks the leak is coming from the return pipe from the steering rack to the cooler pipe.

In that case he means the sub-frame may have to be removed, which is a big job, the exhaust has to come off etc etc.
However he shouldn't have to remove it, just loosen it to lower it enough to get to the pipe.
 
It has been in teh garage on the ramp running for 3 hours yesterday, with the steering also being turned, but no sign of any leaks, also been cleaned again using solvents to use all excess oil/dirt/grime underneath, so he can see any new oil seeping from anywhere and he cant see anything. He says now bring it back in a couple of weeks to see if we can see any oil from anywhere. Just cant trace it! its inconsistent too, sometimes i top of a tint bit per week and other times a lot more. I'll have to try and locate it by keeping an eye on it. in the meatime the Honda PS fluid stuff is running through it, on second bottle now, is there a cheaper alternative i can use wilst its flushing through, at least its had a complete new flush.
 
Is the high pressure hose still clean?

Mine went up near the cam cover, bit ran down the back of the block and all over the rack. All the oil was nowhere near the hole.
 
tbh, i wouldn't know which hose you are referring to, everything underneath has been jetwashed 3 times, after solvents and all is dry & clean, sorry i know it doesnt help,

Goodluckmonkey said:
Is the high pressure hose still clean?

Mine went up near the cam cover, bit ran down the back of the block and all over the rack. All the oil was nowhere near the hole.
 
The big one that runs from the PAS pump over and down the back of the engine.

The usually develop a little pinhole where they sit in the clip near the rocker cover, and pee PAS fluid down the back of the engine, which then gets blown back over the rack.
 
Are you checking from the top as well as bottom? removing any engine covers?
 
StuH said:
Are you checking from the top as well as bottom? removing any engine covers?
yes, the garage is doing a thorough job, the entire engine bay was cleaned top & bottom, its the cleanest its ever been
 
Have you had a look at the cooler? Pretty easy to shine a torch through the grill opening behind/below the front number plate... It's a simple bent 10mm steel pipe and any leakage should be obvious.
 
If it's going from the cooler pipe as Jon says, the front subframe crossmember between the radiator and the motor gets soaked.

I also had to trim the ends off the lines to the reservoir a while back too, they get slack and then it weeps fluid down the lines onto the inner wing and subframe.
 
thank you , i will re-examine
Goodluckmonkey said:
If it's going from the cooler pipe as Jon says, the front subframe crossmember between the radiator and the motor gets soaked.

I also had to trim the ends off the lines to the reservoir a while back too, they get slack and then it weeps fluid down the lines onto the inner wing and subframe.
 
No, I never went back, still leaking, unidentified source, I top it up.
 
The leak is still unidentified. I keep topping it up now with ps fluid. Using some triple q dextron ii stuff now. It doesn't seem to empty the bottle ps completely, it stops leaking about 1 cm from the bottom of the bottle, I wonder if it's a pipe but then there's no real visible leaks around the pipes. I've seen some wynns ps stop leak fluid today, wondering if that will cause is more problems
 
finally leak stopped, used Wynns PS fluid, from ECP, unaware it had some kind of sealant in it which repairs minor fluid seeps. .
 
Finally diagnosed problem. Is leaking cooler pipe, as it's corroded, it's front of car you can see it from the bottom of the front grille. Runs across and back. I need one ASAP if any breakers are selling
 
I can't seem to find the pipe on eBay, they all look different, with rubber housing. Mine is metal all the way accross and back
 
The parts costs £146 from honda holdcroft and i have to collect it, too big to deliver. local dealer with be more. barhumbug!
 
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