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Hello I just wanted to know if the Power steering rack bolted to the firewall can in fact leak PS Fluid into the car? Its not Motor oil its not Break Fluid and its not Antifreeze.. I just cant for the life of me see how the rack could leak inside the car under the Drivers side Carpet..
Under the car is dry-and the rack looks dry as well! No hints of PS fluid anywhere--But i did notice my PS level was down a bit.. I just refilled it cleaned the carpet and will watch..
I can't figure out how that could happen either. You would have to have a hole in the body of the car that lined up with the leak from the power steering rack.
I can't think of anything inside the car that has a oily fluid in it, either.
Yeah for sure its totally insane! I noticed my Carpet was getting a stain near the gas petal right where the floor mat meets the carpet.. What i did was lift the carpet and padding up only to find it oil soaked.. I cleaned everything well so we will see... There is a boot that goes over the steering shaft where it connects to the rack under the dash--I took that boot off and it was dry.. I was thinking maybe there was a seal in that assy that could leak under pressure.. Strange indeed... I looked everywhere cant find any leaks... The engine area is clean and dry no leaks anywhere and under the car looking with a bright light is also dry and clean..
The ONLY thing that I can think of that is in that area is the Rad. It's not a Rad per-se but behind that dash there is a small rad that allows the heat from the car to be transferred inside using the blower fan. Antifreeze IS oil just a whole lot less viscous.
Best way to check this is to run the car, have the heater on, get inside and look up under the dash OR pull your radio out might be a whole lot easier.
IF it is leaking there are two bungs that shoot through the firewall which get rubber hoses connected to them sending coolant to the small rad.
There isn't ANY way for oil to get into the car other than that.
OR if you've had an oil spray done recently they are usually a little too liberal.
It's a long shot but the high pressure power steering line on these cars can fail and squirt fluid. If the fluid is getting into the pass through for the AC lines or heater lines it may have eaten through the grommet and dripped down to the floor. The problem with the power steering fluid (ATF actually) theory is that you don't have to lose much to see a big drop in the reservoir.
I know you're not considering coolant but think about this. Coolant is mostly water and alcohol. Both of which evaporate. Coolant also contains other chemicals which don't evaporate. If you have a very slow leak it could be evaporating before you notice a wet spot but the rest could remain.
Yeah this is a Oil substance of some sort not antifreeze or water--Its Brown very slippery.. I will take another look at the high pressure line but i can tell you its 100% dry at the rack at the fittings and all under the car!
Brudface (post #4) has a good point that you should check into.
If the heater core had a small, slow leak, once the water evaporated out of the antifreeze, that would leave the ethlene glycol as a thick goo. And antifreeze leaves a brown, mud-like stain on your engine when you have a leak under the hood.
Well As i said i saw power steering fluid on the drivers side floor of my 2002 Maxima- The fluid is coming out of the Seal where the steering wheel shaft connects to the rack under the dash board--I took off the steering shaft boot under the drivers side dash and Bingo fluid all over! I was told that the seal right there can leak and leak into the car!!! I attached an image
Well As i said i saw power steering fluid on the drivers side floor of my 2002 Maxima- The fluid is coming out of the Seal where the steering wheel shaft connects to the rack under the dash board--I took off the steering shaft boot under the drivers side dash and Bingo fluid all over! I was told that the seal right there can leak and leak into the car!!! I attached an image
Wild to say the least!
This is why changing fluid regularly is important. But no one does it lol.
I just did a lot of work on a 2001 sienna that had virtually no maintenance ever done to it. The power steering fluid was black and chunky! It is leaking from every single seal and hose in the PS system (including the pump).
09-21-2015, 03:47 PM
