Hello all. I own a 1997 Maxima SE.

I have been having to refill my power steering resevoir a little every few weeks or so, it has a leak. I degreased the engine and investigated the leak. I was pretty sure it was a bad power steering pump. It turns out that it is leaking at the power steering rack, more specifically at the box. Before I start turning nuts and bolts, has anybody had any related problem like this? If so what was the resolve. It looks pricy to me and I am hoping it is nothing more than a hydrolic line connection.

Thanks,

Keith
97 SE 5-speed

 

You could "snug up" the power steering fluid tubes. It's preferable to use a flare nut wrench rather than an open end wrench, to avoid rounding the fittings. A flare nut wrench looks like a box wrench with a small section cut away. This type of wrench is also known as a line wrench and a tubing wrench. They can be purchased in many places including Sears.

 

I thought there is a recall of leaking Powersteering for the 97 (and others?)... something to do with improper tightening of hoses or such at factory...

 

It was a Technical Service Bulletin, not a recall. I believe it relates to loose hose clamps at the power steering pump. Keith observed a leak at the rack. That's in a different neighborhood.

 

Daniel,

Do you know the TSB number on the fix for the power steering hoses being loose and leaking at the rack. My 98 SE is leaking fluid from the hose at the rack and the dealer I took the car to, wants $90.00 to fix. They do not seem interested in looking for the TSB. Any help on this would be appreciated.

Mike

 

Service Bulletin Number: NTB98067
Bulletin Sequence Number: 190
Date of Bulletin: 9807
NHTSA Item Number: SB601881
Make: NISSAN
Model: MAXIMA
Year: 1997
Component: STEERING:POWER ASSIST
Summary: CONDITIONS WITH SOME VEHICLES EXPERIENCING POWER STEERING HOSE CLAMPS NOT PROPERLY TIGHTENED AT THE TIME OF PRODUCTION. *YC

I am going to try and tighten up all clamps and lines (I have flare wrenches I use for brake lines) and hopefully that will fix. I appreciate all the help.

The dealer will not fix the Service Bulletins for free if you are out of warranty.

 

I too have had to fill the power steering fluid reservoir every 1-2 months, just a little bit. However I found that by filling it more frequently the level goes down quicker than if I extend the filling time to twice/three times that...weird! This is on my 99 GXE. kcaldwel, let us know if u successfully resolve the problem.

 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintains an on-line database of safety recalls and Technical Service Bulletins. See http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/proble...servicemmy.cfm

Unfortunately, the NHTSA database contains only summary information. To get the full story you have to visit your local friendly Nissan dealer or subscribe to a for-fee service such as AllData.

This is from the NHTSA database...

Service Bulletin Number: NTB98067
Bulletin Sequence Number: 190
Date of Bulletin: 9807
NHTSA Item Number: SB601881
Make: NISSAN
Model: MAXIMA
Year: 1997
Component: STEERING:POWER ASSIST
Summary: CONDITIONS WITH SOME VEHICLES EXPERIENCING POWER STEERING HOSE CLAMPS NOT PROPERLY TIGHTENED AT THE TIME OF PRODUCTION. *YC


Let's distinguish between a Recall and a Technical Service Bulletin. A Recall is (usually) a problem related to safety or emissions. The manufacturer has an obligation to notify owners in writing. There is no debate with the dealer about whether the repair is needed, or who will pay for it. The repair is needed and Nissan will pay for it.

A TSB is the means by which Nissan notifies its dealers of a recognized problem and a recommendation for diagnosis and remedy. There is no formal notification mailed to owners. The repair may or may not be needed on a specific vehicle. The bill may or may not be paid by Nissan. There is room for the dealer to exercise his judgement.

In this case, the TSB title mentions "CLAMPS NOT PROPERLY TIGHTENED AT THE TIME OF PRODUCTION." I think that means the dealer should inspect the vehicle (no charge) and tighten the clamps (no charge). If you have any misgivings about the honesty of the dealer, you should have the Service Order specifically say "No unauthorized work. No charge to the owner."

My dealer has allowed me into the shop area to watch the technician and talk to him while he works. I love that! Some dealers will push you into a dreary waiting room and cite vague "insurance regulations". A pox on them!

 

I noticed a similar leak in my power steering about three months ago. Dan B gave me some really good advice. When I took it to my dealer they said that it wasn't part of the service bulletin and in fact it was part of the power steering rack that was leaking. They said that the power steering was "loose"--and they were not clear on it. I never got it fixed since they wanted to put in a whole new power steering rack for $1300 (heck NO!~). I do put in fluid (ATF --that is what I have handy) into the system every 3-4 weeks which the refill is minimal--probably 5 tablespoon at most...
The leak hasn't gotten worse, so I am assuming it is a very slow leak, and I just don't want to spend the money on it...
But I am not sure if you guys(who are getting the leaks) are having the same slow leak I am.

Do you guys have little droplet of oil left on your driveways?

 

I forgot to ask how long have you been performing this refill the power steering fluid reservoir business?
Has it been a long time--
I was wondering, could it also be from the extreme cold (that is when I first noticed this) that makes the plastic joints shrink up a bit and this can be prone to some minor leaks--but not in the summer or warmer times?

One question for Dan B...

Would mixing the ATF in the power steering reservoir with regular power steering fluid be bad for the power steering system? I know in the Owner's manual it lists Mercon II and III ATF as a replacement fluid...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by humaras
[I]I forgot to ask how long have you been performing this refill the power steering fluid reservoir business?
Has it been a long time--
I was wondering, could it also be from the extreme cold (that is when I first noticed this) that makes the plastic joints shrink up a bit and this can be prone to some minor leaks--but not in the summer or warmer times?

One question for Dan B.

Now that you mention it, It did start leaking this winter, and since the weather has been warmer (in Texas), it hasn't leaked that much. I can tell you, I won't pay $1300 for a new steering rack, If I can't find a cheaper option, I will trade the car in. I called Courtesy Nissan in Richardson, TX and asked about this situation, the guy was a real jerk (as usual with the Nissan shops down here) and when asked if they would fix it due to the Technical Bulletin, he stated "Not for free!", in an insulting tone. But he did state he knew of this bulletin.

 

No harm at all.

 

Good, good, because my power steering fluid resrvoir nowadays don't look like clear fluid anymore...it is all red, from the ATF mixing inside.

thank you Dan--

Brian

 

I've had to refill it as far back as I can remember...probably as early as half a year after i purchased the car. Sometimes i get lazy and just let it get 1/4" lower than the lowest line and refill it then. Not too sure about the cold/warm weather thing cause it doesn't get too cold in my garage.

 

So pretty much right after you bought it (did you buy it new? and your car is a 99 right?), it had to be refilled? hmmm...that is quite interesting. I have the same problem and mine is a 97 which started only this past winter. Do you know if you have any oil stains (from the leak) on your garage? or no stains? The reason i saw it happening was looking at the driveway and I saw puddles and I thought--what the heck is this...and then I found out it was PS fluid...

 

Yup i bought it brand new. It may have started the day i bought it but never check til half a year later. No puddles on the garage floor that resemble PS fluid but once in awhile i'd get very small drips/puddles that resembles water or engine coolant since it's very light/dilute. It almost seems as if i'm losing some of the PS fluid while driving/steering.

 

Wow--that is really weird. I would assume for cars that are as new as yours and mine, the seals would hold up pretty well. The thing about my car--likewise is that there is a few droplets on the driveway that is very light oil, which resembes PS fluid.

Maybe Dan B can aid us in this. Hypothetically in a PS system --considering that all the seals and joints are sealed properly, can we possibly lose PS fluid when we drive? Unlike Engine oil, which can burn, I wonder what it is like for PS fluid. PS fluid is only supposed to 'lubricate' as far as I know...

by chance, Enduro, have you taken it to the dealer to have it fixed? It is still covered under warranty in your case. Mine, is out of warranty and when I took it to a Nissan dealer last time (3 months ago) they wanted to sell me an entirely new PS system (heck no!!)


Yup i bought it brand new. It may have started the day i bought it but never check til half a year later. No puddles on the garage floor that resemble PS fluid but once in awhile i'd get very small drips/puddles that resembles water or engine coolant since it's very light/dilute. It almost seems as if i'm losing some of the PS fluid while driving/steering. [/I][/QUOTE]

 

Power steering fluid is not consumed. If there is no leak the reservoir will always stay full. I drove an '87 Stanza from '87 to '99 and never added power steering fluid.

 

dang--that is something Dan. 13 years and not one drop of power steering fluid consumed...why can't we all have your luck!!

thanks for the tip.

Brian

 

Nope I haven't bought it to them and no mine isn't under warranty anymore since it now has 74k miles...yeah driving ~50 miles each way to work everyday would do it. When I said loosing PS fluid while steering/driving I meant that is when it Leaks since steering would ?probably? create more pressure in the PS line and if I do have a tiny tiny gap in the line some where this additional pressure would produce that leak...this is my theory since i see nothing on the garage floor.

 

Thanks for clarifying that up Enduro.
Well, at least you are certainly getting your money's worth by getting 74K on the car. Jeez, I wish sometimes that I would have the opportunity to drive my car just as much.

But your theory sounds good--but in the case where you don't have any marks on the garage floor, then it is a very slow leak.

thanks for the chat on this, btw.

Brian

 

no problem...my pleasure. If i hadn't chat with u I wouldn't have came up with that brilliant theory on the leak myself. Probably when I feel adventurous/bored enough may be i'll try to find the source of it but for now couple of PS fluid ounces per month aint too bad.

 

I may also have this cold weather power steering rack leak.

The dealer quoted me $1400 to fix the problem (replacing the rack), but I have not noticed any recent, if any, drips in the driveway. I also had a 87 plymouth reliant this winter that was leaking trany fluid. So it would have been hard to see if the p/s was leaking on the Maxima with all the trany fluid drips.

Additionally, the dealer said it wouldn't pass inspection later this year. Needless to say, it won't be inspected there.

The p/s box did have a lot dirt on it that seemed to be saturated with some type of oil/fluid. I cleaned it off at self serve car wash hoping to see where the leak may be coming from. I will keep an eye on it from now on.

Has anyone noticed any leaks since the winter?

I agree with idea that the seals may affected by the cold weather.

I live in upstate NY and it was extremely cold this winter and the car was outside.

Any more leaks or information from the others who had this problem?

 

DWK55,

It was very cold here this past winter in the Midwest. That is when I noticed the hoses leaking. After the dealer told me the cost to repair the leak, I went ahead and purchased two worm style hose clamps and replaced the factory clamps myself. At this time there has not been any more leaks from those hoses. I think that the clamp must not have been working, becasue I park my car in my garage every night and I still had the leaking hoses. The lowest temp my garage get down to is about 40 Deg. "F". My wifes BMW did not have any leaks from it at all this past winter. I just think that the hose clamps were bad.

 

Dw--
Ironically you check back on this thread after a few months. Well, as the weather became warmer I didn't notice any sort of leak (from the Power steering) anymore. It was just very weird, because I got the same quote from the dealer, and that was when I mentioned it to Dan Martin and also to Yo-Its_ok...and they were both very very helpful with my problem.
Also, around March/April of this year, the leaking stopped and after the snow melted, I hosed down the bottom of the car from all that snow salt. Long story short is that there doesn't seem to be any problem with the PS rack again...

Dw--by chance, when did this problem develop for you? was it only this past winter? The reason is the previous 2 winters didn't affect it at all.

weird...so what could this be though is what I am wondering...

btw, thanks for sharing because up till now, I thought I was the only one with the cold weather leak problem.

 

Rosewood,
these leaks were coming from your power steering hoses or ATF hoses?
I had similar leaks with the ATF leaks and it was a result of the clamps neear the radiator and I had taken it to Yo_Its_okay's garage and he took a look at it for me and changed the clamps...
and then there were no more radiator fluids...but a bit of PS--

btw, did you guys notice any of the PS fluid get over your CV jopints when it was leaking?

 

Humaras,

I believe problem just started this year. However, in the 99-00 winter the car was garaged and wasn't driven very much. I purchased the car used in the fall of 99.

However, I did find an alternative to dealer if I ever do need to replace it. Although, I doubt this is necessary. PartsAmerica has a rebuilt unit for $288. You need to return the bad unit or else there will be a core charge of $200.00

 

what year is your Max Dw?
and what Trim? GLE, GXE or SE?
I bought my GLE--97 in the fall of 99 also...it had 20K on it...and didn't really have any problems the winter of 99--maybe it wasn't that cold...but winter of 2000, was when I noticed this.

btw, this is in partsamerica for just the part, correct? and is it a Nissan part by chance?

 

Its a 97 GXE.

As for the part, it says its a remanufactured part.

Here the desc from parts america,

A1 CARDONE 26-3006 REMAN. POWER RACK IMPORT SHORT

Cardone has a website, but there is not much info on it.

 

Dw,
i am not sure if you know this, but for the 97 model year Maximas, there was a service bulletin put out about leaky power steering units. It happens to be that one or two of the clamps on the PS hose isn't tight enough coming out of the factory.
most dealers will see if there is a faulty clamp and fix it no charge. But this guy that I went to was just a "theif" I think saying I need a new PS rack...so far it is fine...

Hey thanks for the info on the ps rack...I really appreciate that.

 

Humaras,

It was the PS hoses leaking. They were leaking above the PS rack near the firewall. I could see the fluid running down across the PS rack. I replaced the 2 hose clamps just above the rack, and the hoses quit leaking. I asked my dealer about the TSB, and he said it only covered 97's and therefore would not cover my 98. I told him to screw himself and now I shop at another Nissan dealer in the area.

 

The dealer gave you correct information. You didn't like the facts but they are what they are. Why did that prompt you to insult him?

At some time in the future your doctor, dentist, lawyer, stockbroker, etc. will tell you some unpleasant facts. Please prepare yourself to understand the situation and respond constructively. Rudeness and profanity won't solve any problems, and might even aggravate them.

 

I was upset that for a 1997 car there would be no cost to fix the problem, but on a 1998 car with the same problem, the quote was $89.00 to replace 2 hose clamps. I did not know that Nissan made that many changes from the 1997 car to the 1998 car. Can you explain those differences to me?Seems to me that it is the same car, with the same problem. Is that hard to understand???????

I guess that you feel that you are always treated fairly, (no cost verse $89.00) and have no complaints in life. Have you ever gotten a second opinion on something for your car that needed to be fixed? That to me is saying that you do not believe you are being treated fair, and you are feeling the same way you just do not stand up for yourself and let the Stealer walk all over you. I did not think that telling someone on the way your are being treated, is profanity. I already purchased the car from them, I was thinking that they should stand behind what they sell. You kow, customer satisfaction is important. At least if and when I take my BMW to the dealer, I am treated in a professional manner. How many times are you greated and have your problem solved at the Nissan dealer in a professional manner? I do not think this dealer's service department is worth going to, but they were the dealer that I purchased my car from, so I thought I would take my problem back to them but never again.

 

"Screw yourself" is profanity. Those were your words, not mine. This thread is drifting off topic so I will not give it further consideration.

 

What, you start something and when it thrown back to you, you stop?? You do not know any history on this dealers service department, so therefore, you have no way in knowing what type of non service I have received from them in the past on how they want to charge you for service work when the car was still under warranty. Secondly, I thought this board was here to help one another out with problems with their cars, and not give sermons to fellow Maxima owners because they can not get good service from Nissan dealers.

 

Your manner of expression is off topic for this forum. If you feel a strong interest in continuing the discussion, start a new thread in the Off Topic forum. Perhaps you could title it How insults help me get good dealer service.

 

First of all, this original response was not directed to you. I seem to remember that I sent it in response to another person who asked what hose was leaking and that was my response. I tried to let others who experienced this problem that the TSB only covers 1997 cars and how I felt with the way I was being treated. In no way did I ask for your comments in the first place. If you would kindly butt out of other people's lifes, maybe you will not feel insulted if profanity was used at a dealer. I do not remember using profanity towards you, but one would think I said this directly to you, which I did not. Like I said before, you have no idea on the history of my problem with my car,and the problems dealer that I took my car to be serviced at. I never mentioned the dealers name either, which sometimes prople do on this board.

Why don't you get a life and just respond to questions that are asked instead starting in with a Monday sermon???

 

Plainly you do not understand the operation of a forum. If you want to communicate privately with a specific person you may use the Private Message facility or direct E-mail. Anything you post on this forum is open to be read by, and responded to, by all other members. You might not like it, but those are the rules.

 

The PS has a high pressure side to the rack, and a low pressure return side. The high pressure side uses swedged on fittings and threaded joints with washers. The low pressure side just has slip on fittings and hose clamps. All the factory hose clamps are of the wire style. They are lousy. They deform the hose in the area directly under the clamp, so the clamping pressure is lost and the hose begins to weep. Replacing them with worm drive, regular style clamps will cure many leaks in the PS and transmission lines.
Leaks probably start in the winter, because the low tempertures causes the PS fluid to thicken up and the pump pressure to go very high until it warms up. Replacing the PS fluid with synthetic AFT, with its low pour point, would help here. It a good idea to replace the PS fluid every few years anyway.

 

would using a synthetic ATF for power steering fluid "help" the leaks that could be occuring? And I was wondering if the synthetic ATF would make noticible turning (easier/harder) to turn the steering wheel?