Power Steering Fluid Leak

[Inferno]

There seems to be a little leak on my power steering bottle. I have wiped it away several times, and it has made it's way back every time. I guess it's a bad cap. I thought I read a post, where someone was warned about a power steering cap, is this a gts problem?

 

[95Viper]

Remove the cap so you can see what is going on. There is a rubber splash shield, then slots that allow air to go through the center of the "******" on the cap. The reservoir needs to be vented.

Make sure nothing is broke, the dipstick isn't broken. Blow through the ******. If nothing moves, your cap is fine.

Now, wipe the dipstick and screw it on, then off. Check for level. Many overfill the reservoir allowing so much fluid to splash around it makes it up the ****** and bleeds over a little. Yours is probably over filled.

The caps are all the same on gen1/2. The thread pattern and materials and heat simply allow the cap to work itself loose and it falls off. It lands on headers and starts a fire. Roe Racing and Archer Racing carry the vent tube that secures the cap on and increases the ****** length that doesn't allow the fluid to splash out even during road racing.

 

[Inferno]

Remove the cap so you can see what is going on. There is a rubber splash shield, then slots that allow air to go through the center of the "******" on the cap. The reservoir needs to be vented.

Make sure nothing is broke, the dipstick isn't broken. Blow through the ******. If nothing moves, your cap is fine.

Now, wipe the dipstick and screw it on, then off. Check for level. Many overfill the reservoir allowing so much fluid to splash around it makes it up the ****** and bleeds over a little. Yours is probably over filled.

The caps are all the same on gen1/2. The thread pattern and materials and heat simply allow the cap to work itself loose and it falls off. It lands on headers and starts a fire. Roe Racing and Archer Racing carry the vent tube that secures the cap on and increases the ****** length that doesn't allow the fluid to splash out even during road racing.

Wow, what a great response. I sincerely thank you, good info like that really helps new guys like me, thanks again.

 

[ACELLR8]

I had a power steering leak on my 95. I first replaced the high presure line, which is often times the culprit. Pretty easy to change out as well. Leak was still there. At this point I got fed up with it and ordered a new power steering pump from Chuck Tator, misunderstanding on my part, I assumed that it would come with the reservoir and everything, but it did not. After replacing the pump and adding the cheap plastic reservoir to the new pump, and putting it all back in the viper it still leaked.

Last thing to replace was the reservoir, cost was about $75 and that turned out to be it. I believe it is a two piece container with 3 sides then a flat piece plastic welded to the main unit. Looks like a weak design to me. Also you have an O ring between the container and where it mounts to the pump, could also be it.

Best thing, I did this with my wifes lexus power steering leak was to try and identify where it is leaking from by cleaning it good and then visibly looking for the source. If that does not work buy the dye that you put in and look for the leak with a black light. Works Great!!

 

[prodiver]

I had the same problem on my 95. Very poor design. Mine was leaking where the reservoir oring mates to the pump and replacing the orings was only a temporary fix. I ended up epoxying the pump to the reservoir and adding a cooler to it. I added the cooler because I do a lot of open track events and it prevents the fluid from overheating. Pretty simple add on.

 

[Randy]

If you track your Gen I car without a power steering cooler, I'll wager you'll have the power steering pump fail, especially if its a decent road-course with lots of turns.

I lost the power steering pump on my Gen I car while on-track at Sears Point - had to chop the throttle because a mustang (trying to keep up with me) started blowing coolant - I cut the throttle and veered away from his trail of coolant, then tried to make the 90-degree right turn (turn 5?) prior to the carousel, and the steering wheel "bounced" as if against an invisible end-of-travel stop. Seems the lower rpms and failing pump lost my boost, and I almost went off-track, as I didn't expect the sudden inability to turn. If the rpms were high, it was OK. It made for some interesting driving the next week before I replaced the pump - any attempt at a quick turn (such as out of a store parking lot onto a busy street) was dangerous, as the lack of steering assist until the rpms were up made quick turns an iffy proposition.

Right after that, I bought the Gen II dual-pass power-steering cooler ($60 back in 1999, as I recall) and installed it on my Gen I. Then, I noticed the Roe Racing cooler was about the same cost (i.e. cheap) and was a bigger four-pass unit, so I ordered it and put it on later.

One of the first modifications I made to my Gen II car was the Roe four-pass power-steering cooler, and synthetic power-steering fluid.

 

[95Viper]

Inferno could just have an overfilled reservoir and fluid leaking out the ****** of the cap.

All great suggestions though if it's not.