Power Steering Leak Diagnosis 92 FJ80

[8LFGRND]

Can anyone help me here? From the small black cylinder where you pour the PS fluid in, just a bit up and right of the battery, 2 hoses go out and down to the left. Once the truck has been parked the drip point is where the hoses come down and "U" back up before heading what looks to be through the frame and over to the other side of the truck. The fluid is very clean, and the pump was replaced in the last two years.

It must be leaking more while I'm driving because it appears to be splattering on the front axle and the general area down there. Steering still appears to be normal, but the leak was present on the garage floor for the first time this morning.

Sorry folks, I'm no mechanic, but I'm trying to learn.
Ideas? Things to look into first, second, etc. Could it be something else?

 

[sseaman]

first make sure you have fluid in the reservoir( the little black cylinder)
make sure the cap is on tight
make sure the hoses are clamped snug but not cutting into the hose
if you are low top off with ATF and keep an eye on it to make sure there wasnt air in the line which would use up some of the fluid quickly

hope this helps

 

[jonheld]

Quick lesson here:

Power steering pump is what gets driven by the belt. It has a reservoir sitting on top of it and is where you add the ATF (not PS fluid) for the PS system.

Steering box is on the left side frame rail and it moves the pitman arm which is connected to your steering linkages

Your PS hose assembly is made up of 2 different hoses. There is a high pressure hose that runs from the PS pump output (bottom hose with a threaded pipe fitting) to the steering box and a low pressure hose that runs from the steering box back to the pump (upper hose with a simple hose clamp).

Both hoses attach to hard lines which cross over in front of the front chassis cross member. These hard lines also act as radiator to dissapate heat.

On older Cruisers the high pressure hose tends to "weep" over years of use. It is a ROYAL PITA to replace this assembly and Toyota sells it only as an a$$embly.

Try to localize where the leak is coming from. The pump can leak at the rear seal, the reservoir cap gasket gets old and leaky, and there is also a gasket between the reservoir and pump that can leak.

 

[70sguy]

The seam between the two parts that make up the reservoir also tends to weep after time. There is likely some sort of gasket put in there when they crimp the top to the main can that dries out. The ATF then weeps down the can, hoses and onto the floor. On my 1HD-T it was also getting blown back all over the injection pump and everything else. So in the process of elemination be sure to look at that.