Power Steering Leak

[TennTechMan]

The car: '03 SVTF. 75,000 miles. Had it since new. No power steering issues or noises until now.

I decided to go to Deal's Gap for lunch today, and on the way back to work the car started spraying power steering fluid on the bottom of the hood. My trip to lunch and back consisted of 10 minutes or so of high engine rpms (4500 up to the rev limiter) each direction. My car has been no stranger to being driven that hard.

I haven't gotten a chance to put much effort into figuring out exactly where the fluid is coming from. The fluid is definitely leaking somewhere near the pump. Can't quite tell if it is coming from the pump shaft seal or the high pressure line connection. With the hood open, engine running, and turning the wheel, I was able to see some oil spray up a few inches higher than the valve cover. It didn't do that very consistently, but it is consistently leaking fluid. The reservoir still has a little fluid in it, so hopefully, I didn't do any damage other than the leak at this point.

I did some searching, and it looks like this topic hasn't come up in a while. I think the most recent thread about a power steering leak was from 2006. There were a few threads from that year. It seemed like a common problem at the time, but I haven't noticed it come up since then. Is power steering leaking really a common problem? Is there a common leak point? In several of the older threads, it mentions owner having to replace pumps and racks. Is that really necessary just for a leak?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[carlingskie]

Grab a flash light and check where its coming from. Its going to be a tight fit, so you might want to jack up the passenger side to make life a little bit easier. Check the pump and the hoses (pressure and return lines). Then replace if needed. I hope this helps.

[all2envyZx3]

Most likely its the hard line that goes to the pump
I happened to my 02' within 1000 miles of buying it lol
Fill it up with fluid and have someone turn the steering wheel around
while your checking for leaks
The pump is fubered if you drive more than 10 feet without fluid fyi

[02AllBlackSVT]

Haha not meaning to laugh but mine is doing the same thing its on the bottom by the pump, it sucks driving.. I havent really had the time to look yet I need to get under there.

Im sure we both have the same issue.

Andrew

[TennTechMan]

Originally Posted by 02AllBlackSVT

Im sure we both have the same issue.

Andrew

Looks like be both have Red SVTF's, and mine was built in June '03 as well. Wonder what happened that day.

Thanks for all the replies. Luckily, my car is more of a recreational vehicle for me, so I haven't had to drive it since the leak. I've been busy this week, but hope to start figuring out the exact problem soon.

[COSVT03]

I had the line go bad. Then the tech screwed up the seal installation.
It's good times.

If your going to tackle this, you need to order both the hard and soft o-ring seals. (about 3 bucks from Steve@Tousley)
1. Make sure not to cross thread it!
2. The Hard O-ring goes at the base of the threads, be gentle, it takes a little bit of work to get it on there. The Soft O-ring sits on the center of the line on top, and seals the center from the threads, which you have to thread into the bottom of the pump.
3. Enjoy yourself, your not going to get this on the first try. (Make sure you keep the line level and you don't shift the top o-ring and rip it in half![Buy 2 or 3 of each])

If you clean the pump with some type of cleaner before you check for leaks, it will be easier to identify as well. (Usually out the center of the hard line, or threads on bottom of the pump...which can be caused by a bad o-ring, and not the line itself fyi...)

[TennTechMan]

Thanks for the additional input. I got a chance Wednesday night to clean it up and check for leaks. The fluid is dripping off of the pressure line from the pump. The only reservation that I have is that it could be coming from the shaft seal and dripping down onto the hard line. I'm planning to start with the changing the seal on the pressure line, and go from there.

While looking at it closely, I noticed that I can pivot (rotate in the axis of the nut) the line at the connection to the pump. Should it be able to do this when everything's tight? If not, I'm guessing that is definitely my problem.

To those that have had the O-ring fail, is there any visible damage on the O-ring?

[blackbird]

I'll second the caution of not letting it go empty and driving the car. The power steering pump uses the fluid to lubricate the internal bearings and it will seize up if it runs dry. That happened on my first '02 SVTF with just a few thousand miles on the car. While driving home one night I noticed the steering getting a little heavy then a few miles from home the power steering pulley sheared off after the pump froze up. In my case it ended up being the high pressure line.

[02AllBlackSVT]

Originally Posted by TennTechMan

Thanks for the additional input. I got a chance Wednesday night to clean it up and check for leaks. The fluid is dripping off of the pressure line from the pump. The only reservation that I have is that it could be coming from the shaft seal and dripping down onto the hard line. I'm planning to start with the changing the seal on the pressure line, and go from there.

While looking at it closely, I noticed that I can pivot (rotate in the axis of the nut) the line at the connection to the pump. Should it be able to do this when everything's tight? If not, I'm guessing that is definitely my problem.

To those that have had the O-ring fail, is there any visible damage on the O-ring?

That is what mine is like the hard line that goes straight to the bottom of the pump that nut moves and that is where mine is leaking. Weird....

Andrew

[TennTechMan]

I've made some more progress with the PS leak. It's been a busy couple of weeks, so I'm having to work on it a few minutes one day, then a few minutes a week later. I'll get it fixed eventually though.

What I found.



The line has an O-ring seal between the line and the nut. And the seal that gave out is the seal between the nut and the pump. My local dealership tried to tell me they didn't have the seal that I need. Knowing that I've seen a similar seal on other newer Fords that I've worked on, I guessed the guy just didn't know what I was asking for. Steve at Tousley has them (thanks again for the info Steve). But, I can't seem to do anything the normal way, so I ordered a package of potentially higher quality seals from McMaster-Carr.

I will know for sure in a few days that the McMaster-Carr seals work. I'll let you guys know in another 75,000 miles if the new seals are any better. In the mean time, I'll have 49 extra. If anyone needs one, let me know.

[4rd Toys]

Yeah,
I have this problem also....
I have only seen "oil-spray" on the hood's underside once in a great while...
once when I had my car valet-parked in NYC last summer and in heavy stop & go traffic when the outside temps are hovering around 90 F with the A/C on.
-
At first I thought their was something wrong w/ the A/C compressor since it was "moist" with oil or the P/S [power steering] cap was loose.
-
I have added about a spoonful amount into the p/s reservior every year so far....
I guess I better get started and maybe include the p/s flush & fill....
I have also noticed the steering strut looks to be leaking slightly since it is glazed in oil & dust/dirt... hmmm.....

[BadIdea]

You have to use redline power steering fluid. The stock stuff can't take the high rpm's and heat and will foam up and destroy your seals.

[TennTechMan]

I started to re-install the pump today. When I tightened the pressure line retaining nut, something didn't seem 100% right. It started to tighten up as the nut started to compress the O-ring. But before I got to the recommended 65 N-m (48 ft-lbs) of torque, the O-ring crushed, and it got easier to turn.

Is the O-ring supposed to crush before reaching the final torque?

[COSVT03]

About 40 times. I run em down to positive stop. I haven't had one seal up at anything less than TIGHT. There is plenty of difference between Tight and Stripped threads... But usually I tighten them down with 3 fingers. Easy way to tell if it's tight enough, is to let the car idle, if it's not tight enought, CAREFULLY tighten it until it stops leaking down the hard line.

I've changed about 4 of these seals now, all but 1 has 40k plus on them and still running strong. (All but 1 replaced with seals from Steve)