Two weeks ago I had the oil change\tire rotation done on my Rodeo. at that time they suggested a power steering flush. I held off doing it because I just didn't have the funds to do it. This past (black) Friday, I started hearing squealing noises as i would turn the wheel. I noticed the power steering fluid was extremely low. So I bought some power steering fluid and filled it up. Last night (Monday) I started hearing the squealing again. The fluid was down as low as it was last Friday. Any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks, PS the Rodeo has about 132,000 miles on it
I figured that. Any suggestions on a reasonably priced person who can trouble shoot it? If the parts are reasonable priced at the auto parts place I will go there otherwise I would go to LKQ to pick them
I trust Quality Auto Service at 40/42. They have done some work for me and a few friends in the past.
There is a dye for power steering that can show where the fluid is leaking. You will need the use of a black light. Check the pump, lines and steering gear. First you can fill the reservoir with fluid at night or last time it is driven, parked lay card board under reservoir rearward to the firewall. That might give you a general area to inspect. Hope it helps. Remember loss of steering can be fatal.
Tomorrow is my day off. I will see if I can find that. I know Last Friday while at Wally world I picked up a bottle of the Prestone power steering fluid that supposedly has the ability to stop leaks. I'll try a real auto parts store tomorrow. Thanks I will try that. Any recommendations on what auto parts stores may carry the dye and the stop leak. I know I have a black light somewhere. I will get the cardboard and put it under it. Last night when I left work I did look under my vehicle but did not see any moist spots. Thank you both for your suggestions.
On a vehicle with that age and mileage, I'd try the stop leak unless you are a DIYer. Otherwise, the only real solution is to replace the pump, which, at a few hundred parts and labor, is probably 20% of the value of the vehicle. There are some great lease deals going on right now if you don't drive much. It might be a good time to sell after you throw some stop leak in there, because these $300-$500 repairs will pop up one after one on a vehicle with that age and mileage between now and 200k
I put in some of that stop leak stuff in the other day. It is still leaking. I have not been able to put a piece of cardboard under to see if it is leaking. But where I park at Wake med I can see the general area where it is leaking from. If looking at it from the front, I would have to say it is towards the center of the vehicle right behind where the radiator is.
never worked on a rodeo. probably you got a pump hooked to a belt. two lines from the pump to a gear box. gear box is hooked to the steering column. gear box has an arm hooked to a rod that ties both front tires together. some vehicles use a hydraulic cylinder hooked to the gear box which means two more lines. you probably dont have a cylinder cause that was generally old vehicles or heavy duty trucks. crawl under and look. seals are bad in the pump or gear box, or lines cracked. maybe a loose fitting but probably not. yo need a pump or gear box or lines.
On my way to work yesterday I took my vehicle over to 'Just Tires' since they were the ones who suggested the power steering flush initially. The guy did noticed that one of the two 'brake line style' lines on the rack assembly was spraying power steering fluid from a pin hole leak. They are not equipped to bend lines. So they would have to replace the entire rack assembly, which would cost 696.55 plus tax. But he did call over to Quality Auto and spoke to a David. He explained the situation to David. He would have to take a look at it first. So today I will stop by there on my way to work to set up an appointment for them to look at it.
Is it leaking from a rubber hose or a metal line? If a rubber hose and you are short on cash, you could just cut the line and splice in a hose connector. It's not a permanent fix, but it would last a while if done right. And maybe cost $5 for parts plus a bottle of fluid for what leaked out. If it's a metal line, that's another story. Either way, I have mixed results with Just Tires, they do tires alright, but they suck big time on alignments. QAS hopefully can fix it on the cheap.
It's one of the metal lines. I am trying to find a picture to post. Yeah JT said they can not bend the metal hoses. that's why they called over to QAS.
If you can get the outside dry, you can use some JB Weld in a pinch - http://www.jbweld.com/ http://www.jbweld.com/collections/automotive/products/j-b-weld-professional-size
Swagelok or Parker A-lok compression fittings in stainless steel could also be used to repair the line. It would probably have to be removed and cut at the hole then a union put in place to connect the two pieces. These fittings handle up to 6000 PSI in 1/4 inch lines so they will handle the pressure of a power steering pump. Raleigh Valve and Fitting is a Swagelok distributor, but Grainger handles them as well. It is not as good as replacing the entire line because a second hole may follow the first, but the fitting itself should be less than $20.00 depending on the OD of the tubing. They also have metric fittings since the cars use a lot of various components.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#compression-fittings-for-metric-seamless-stainless-steel-tubing/=109j587 http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-stainless-steel-compression-tube-fittings/=109j61s
