Hi Guys

2 days after picking the car up from the paint shop I've had a pretty major oil leak. You may remember that the car puked up a load of fuel from the filler cap and ruined the paint at the rear of the car.

The car had been locked up in the garage after a decent run yesterday (oil temp was 90ish when switched off) and didn't notice any leaks a couple of hours later when I went to get something out of the car.

When I went to the car just now this is what awaited me:



I initially thought perhaps it was the carbon tank being full which was the case for another PH'er last year, but after finding the little hole that it vents from it appears dry.

I opened the little access hatch where I thought it was located but actually wasn't sure what I was looking for:



The problem is I can't seem to find where the leak is coming from and the oil pipes above where it leaked all appear dry(ish). All I can see is where it is collecting before dripping on to the floor:





As you can see, it's quite a bit of oil:



I checked the dipstick and there is oil still touching it, although not too sure how significant that is because the engine is stone cold.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Thanks for that, I'll give it a go in the morning.

Is power steering leak a big job? Is it a matter of replacing part and topping up or do you have to bleed the entire system or something?

Depends how dirty the floor is, in my experience.

Have you needed to top up the PAS fluid? You can check the level as there is a dipstick built into the PAS cap. Squeezing the gaitors is a top tip!

If you can get the car onto a ramp you need to look at the braided pipes to the PAS pump and the pipes to the oil cooler. The welds on the bottom of the oil tank can fracture. I had to have a few oil pipes replaced at the last service as they do degrade.

Also check oil pipes to the block and the oil filter

Spoke too soon. If you move the steering gaiter around it squirts out oil.

So can you have a complete steering rack seal failure?

This pic from the OP kind of shows it:

Kiley Clinton in Birmingham come highly recommended. The expensive job is TVR labour rates getting the rack out, apparently its a PITA.

It is.

Think yourself lucky you have one 24 hours since the new owner took mine and I am missing it.

If you've got fluid in your gaitor then its almost certainly the seal at the end of the rack. The outer one (at leas on the cerb anyway) can be replaced in situ - so that may be worth looking into.

That said, if it were me, I'd be bunging some jeyes power steering stop leak fluid in there and see if it helps. For £8 you may get lucky & it just seals it

Sounds like a plan. Never heard of the stuff before. Although the seal must be pretty shot because it's not just leaking a bit, the entire contents of the reservoir will empty over the course of a few hours (well, I checked again earlier after filling it yesterday and it was all gone again). Even if it does just put off the inevitable, I'd prefer to get a bit more use out of the car before having to book it into a garage again. But if leaking this much, does it sound a bit too late for this sealing fluid?

Blueg33 - if you want to go through the trouble of posting it to me, then thanks and let me know your price. Otherwise I'll just order some online.

Cheers

Just popped to halfrauds and got some wynns power steering leak stop. Giving it a go now.