QuestionJohn,
Thank you for being there. I have a 98 Discovery with 103,000 miles on it and in excellent shape. With the cold of winter coming on 2 months ago, I have had a leak appear under the vehichle. It started small and was not even enough to refill for a while. When the temp went around and below 0 for several days, there was a large puddle underneath and it took about a half bottle of power steering fluid to refill it. When it is not cold outside, the leak appears to decrease and does not depend on whether I steered with it or not or even take a long trip. I have cleaned the area with pressure spray to see what is happening. Hard to tell where the leak is, however, my first guess it is one or both of the high pressure hoses or a crack at the bottom of the fluid container. At least, I hoping it is as the least expensive way. If the worse comes true, is there any national auto chain that does remans for the power steering pump? NAPA does not carry them here.
I believe I have used you a while back for a power train vibration and you were right, it turned out to be the universal joints, not the transmission or diff. cases. What made it hard to find was that the worn part on one of the 4 sides could not be detected unless I was under it and had someone push the vehicle so it would rotate and finally it got to the one of the four corners that was loose. Unless that corner was showing, the shaft was not loose at all. Your answer made me persist until it was what you said.
Thank you once again and please have a nice day.
Boomer
AnswerI am sorry to say there is no one cause for power steering leaks like yours. Leaks from the reservoir, the lines, the pump, and the gear are all common. You just have to wash everything off and look carefully to see the leak source.
Ar Robison Service (in New England) our most common leak would be lines, and our least common pumps, but we certainly see all combinations.
As to getting the parts . . . you can buy anything you need from Atlantic British or Rovers North online.
