Power Steering Fluid Leak on 306 HDI

[teddylong]

Hello guys,

I've got a 306 HDI, W reg that has been hassle free since I bought it as a dirt cheap run around last year...

Yesterday my alternator belt snapped and I managed to get it replaced the same day at a garage for 45. They've told me that this was due to a leak in the engine somewhere of power steering fluid - only they're not sure where the leak is coming from and would need to start dismantling the engine to find out (so naturally I'm a bit concerned about the price etc of them finding it, let alone fixing it).

Does anyone have any experience of trying to find the source of a leak on the power steering? How to do it? What to look for etc? I put a takeaway box under my car last night to catch the leak from under the engine and overnight it collected a small pool - but then when I set it left a trail so presume it had also pooled in the engine somewhere.

I've no idea how likely, or if it all connected but on Thursday night I went over a pretty rough speed bump on a road to a local football centre that notoriously catches the underside of cars (does this on all of my friends whoever drives). It always seems to crunch on the front offside which appears to be where the leak drips from. Is this just a coincidence? I wasn't sure if there was anything on the underside of a 306 HDI which could be damaged/caught?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm hoping to try find the leak, or have a good idea before taking it into a garage and having my pants down spending 3 hours just looking for it then another X on the repair.

[thinfourth2]

If you are taking a car to a garage to change an alternator belt then most methods and repairs will be beyond you, however it won't take 3 hours to find the leak it should take 30 minutes at most to identify the leak if the car is on a set of ramps