Power Steering Gearbox Issue (1 Viewer)

[Grantskys17]

Fair warning, I'm a dumb college kid and not a great mechanic. So a few months back I had a reputable mechanic install a certified refurbished gearbox. Earlier today, I was turning into my neighborhood when all of a sudden, turning the wheel sounds atrocious and it was clear something broke.

I look under the car and see tons of power steering fluid caked under the car and also dripping. Is this gearbox toast? Is this just a seal or something that caused oil to drain? Thanks for the help!

 

[enox]

i mean did you look at it? or check the rezzie to see if theres fluid?

 

[baldilocks]

Sounds like you’ll be buying a new power steering pump if you keep running the engine without fluid in the steering system. It’s doubtful the steering box puked fluid that rapidly. You will probably find a hose that has burst or come disconnected.

 

[Grantskys17]

Don’t run the car anymore, noted. I tried looking for a hose that was burst open or broken but oddly enough couldn’t find anything. It felt like it happened so suddenly when driving but when I put some PS fluid in the reservoir, it didn’t instantly fall out anywhere and was just a slow drip but I couldn’t identify the source.

I’ll attempt to investigate more today

 

[Grantskys17]

i mean did you look at it? or check the rezzie to see if theres fluid?

Yeah the gearbox itself looked normal from what I could tell just looking at it from under and the reservoir was empty. Maybe a hose somewhere that I missed

 

[baldilocks]

Look closely at the rear of the pump.

 

[Grandlooser]

Clean it first so you can see where it's coming from. I'm betting on hose.

 

[davidp14]

the rear seal on mine went while I was in the store and I came back out to see it literally running out like a faucet. I drove it 2 miles home and replaced it the next weekend. Looks like you'll be doing the same soon.
You could just rebuild it if you wanted. There's a few great threads on how to do it here if you search. Its not hard and not even very expensive

 

[-Spike-]

Yeah the gearbox itself looked normal from what I could tell just looking at it from under and the reservoir was empty. Maybe a hose somewhere that I missed

Look closely at the rear of the pump.

...because there's a plug that can pop out, emptying all the fluid quickly. More common in rebuilt pumps.

 

[baldilocks]

...because there's a plug that can pop out, emptying all the fluid quickly. More common in rebuilt pumps.

And also the rear cover can pop off. This happened on a pump that I resealed a few years ago. Luckily it popped off in my driveway the day I installed the pump.

Installing the rear cover is a SOB, however, I was sure that the snap ring was fully installed into the grove when I was finished. If my memory serves me, that snap ring has a round cross section.