power steering - leak?

[CROUCHY]

My power steering ('94 Chimaera) was stiff and 'whirring' recently. After checking this board I topped up the fluid and all seemed fine. I took the car on a 400 mile trip and needed to add a whole bottle of fluid afterwards - presumably this is not normal?
If I wanted to check the hoses/clips, where would I look (and what is the best access route)?
Cheers,
Crouchy
P.S. I'm not much of an engineer....

>>> Edited by CROUCHY on Tuesday 22 April 08:52

[gideonr]

There may not be any visible signs of a leak (other than the fluid disappearing), mine leaked into the steering rack itself through a worn out internal seal.
You will probably need the steering rack to be re-conditioned.

Chimaera 400HC

[5ltr-chim]

There's a U shaped steel link between two rubber hoses - check and if need be tighten the jubilee clips on these - It's quite common I'm told for them to leak here (Mine did) - Some of the fluid can land on the exhaust and burn off leaving little sign.
The whereabouts of this link can vary - i.e. Air con for example could put pas pump on otherside of engine.

[Marlboro]

Had a very similar experience with my '96 4.0. Mine was sorted with some new hoses.

[CROUCHY]

Just checked the PAS reservoir - now empty! Poured fluid in to see if I could see where it was coming from - fortunately the leak is not so bad that it runs out so quickly. I have checked under the PAS pump - seems dry, as do the hoses to the fluid reservoir. Does that suggest a steering rack leak? The oil is dripping to the floor towards the front of the driver side, about 2 foot in, in line with the front wheel centres (if that makes any sense).
Only had the rack re-conditioned a few months ago...
Cheers,
Crouchy.

[arattray]

I had the 'U' tube pipes leak. They had been affected by exhaust heat.

Sounds like fluid is dripping from the region of the steering rack then, but if the leak is further up the system the fluid would run down the hoses and onto the floor there anyway, so not conclusive. Sorry.

I expect there's fluid everywhere, making it difficult to trace leak. Can only suggest giving everything a good clean with Gunk/detergent and drying off before another quick run to improve your chances of finding a fresh trail.

Andy

[apache]

Only had the rack re-conditioned a few months ago...
Cheers,
Crouchy.

take it back mate, the work should be covered