Took a trip up the coast from FLA to NY to visit the parents. at a stop in jersey, i open the hood to check fluids and HOLY HELL, my power steering fluid is boiling!! it was DAMN HOT. yup, i put my finger in there....haha.

after doing some research into old posts which all said, a) hydraulic fluid doesn't boil, it smokes, b) "power steering pump is about to go, no other reason possible"

i wanted to ask here. and now, not 10 years ago.
My power steering works great. no noise, no nothing.
this was a long trip, could a malfunction in the engine cooling heat it up enough to boil? like if the wrong thermostat was put into my car? the engine has seemed excessively hot, though the needle on the guage is fine and the radiator has not sucked up fluid from the reservoir.
obviously i need to drain the stuff and probably flush it out.

so i'm asking, any other reasons for it to boil/have pressurized water/air in the line other than the pump?
if not i will replace the pump while changing the fluid.

thanks guys!

 

I can't provide much help. How many miles are on the vehicle? Do you know its work history?.

I have less than 112,000 miles on my 95SE and have had my power steering fluid flushed twice already.

The 2nd time was gong on 5.5 years ago..

 

The early 4 th gen cars have a power steering cooler tube. It is connected from the fluid tank to a tube in front of the radiator. If your car does not have one, you might want to visit a wrecking yard.

What color is your fluid.Should be red. Like automatic transmission fluid. If it isnt, suck fluid from the tank with a turkey baster with a hose which fits over the baster. Then replace with atf.

Repete that proceedure the next time you open the hood. Continue till the fluid turns red.

black fluid is burned fluid. It causes power steering issues. Change it.

 

1996 i30, 58,000mi on odometer....from looks of almost everything i believe it to be true. then again, it is florida and cars can look great at high mileage. I've only had it since 54,000.

i will look tomorrow at both color (already on my to do list) and also for a cooler.

 

My 96 maxima does have the cooler. Yours should as well.

I would get a quart of Dextron 3 atf, the baster, and a short rubber hose which fits over the baster snuggly.

 

Check the condition and positioning of your cooler lines and the rubber loop.

From the fluid reservoir, there are two aluminum lines that run along the top of the passenger side inner fender liner toward the radiator.

They curve downward near the radiator and then curve toward the radiator.

They pass to the front of the radiator on radiator's passenger side and connect to a rubber hose loop in front to of the radiator.

Make sure everything is running parallel and that nothing is missing or touching the radiator itself.

 

Awesome! thanks. i will be inspecting this tomorrow hopefully.

yesterday was clean up of garage and get android auto working in new head unit (ground "emergency brake" wire from stereo to the radio chassis) and today i was messing with the girlfriend's Del Sol. I have too many projects on my plate right now! can someone clone me with a few improvements?!? haha.

 

ok, i've been busy, tired AND sick, so i got to this today.

fluid seems clear if you stick paper in and soak some up, but looks very brown looking at it down the fill hole. will be sucking this out and replacing tomorrow while changing the oil.
i DO have the cooler, which seems to just be a passive continuous loop that runs in front of the radiator and back. i'm assuming the pump has enough pressure in the system to push some of the fluid along this pipe.
after i drain it i will disassemble the connections and look for sediment/ clogs. not sure if there are screens in there.

thanks to all who replied, i REALLY appreciate everyone's input and advice! i will update this with my findings and results.

 

Make sure the oil cooler isn't clogged!