Along the front passenger tire. The fluids clear, even when soaked on a white paper towel, but has the rainbow look to it, so I'd assume it isn't water.


I can't see anything from above really. Any ideas?

 

power steering fluid

 

Looks like a power steering fluid leak,maybe from the rack&pinion unit or high pressure hose...

 

Alright thanks, time to read up on that repair

Will the fluid be immediately affecting anything else adversely?

 

yup power steering fluid is your car getting hard to turn.

 

Well,by the looks of the pictures,your control arm bushing is pretty much ruined,it will need to be replaced.(usually the entire arm is replaced with a reman unit)

If the p/s system gets too low on fluid,it will eventually ruin the p/s pump..


If the rack unit is leaking.......ugh..

 

I'm having the control arm replaced probably next week. Is replacing that going to make the hose more accessible? If it is I'll just pay the extra money to have the mech do it, otherwise I'll do it myself.

 

First you need to find the source of the leak,it may not be the p/s hose..It could be the rack unit/or the pump itself leaking..

Clean off the oil soaked areas with a can of engine degreaser/water hose..Then check for the source of the leak over a few days period,after driving it preferably.Remember,a good flashlight helps out alot when it comes to leak tracking..

 

Thanks, it should be pretty easy to track down, it was leaking a pretty significant amount before, I don't think I'll be driving it tonight even though I just upgraded the headlights to 9007

 

I wouldn't put on the LCA/replace the bushing until you get the leak fixed, as it will eat the new bushing as well. And of course Id clean all that old fluid off as well.

~Alex