FutureBing

I've been having major PS fluid leaks ALL the time. Ive had my scoob in the local garage (JDM MY94 WRX) and they have replaced the following....

the o ring between the tank and pump (twice)
the gasket between pump and block (and sealed it)
the tank cap (new model with secondary seal in)

.. and it's still p**sing fluid out and smoking off. Some evenmanaged to reach my TMIC yesterday near the turbo housing. I've spend a fair few hundred in labour and parts now and it's still not sorted. I'm running out of ideas AND cash rapidly.

Any help would be sweet.

One cheesed off Scooby owner

wrx-kris

what do you mean you paid for this that and the other and it's not fixed? go back, tell em to fix it or you will go to trading standards about charging you for something that oviously wasnt the problem!!!!

wrx-kris

sorry mate but "a few hundered quid" should of got you a new rack fitted!

imprezadan1

hi,
personally mate i dont know anything about engines etc but ive just had an MOT and they told me i was losing power steering fluid from the pinion seal on the steering rack.they replaced the seal and everything seems fine now.

FutureBing

It's definately not the rack as the PS fluid is sitting on TOP of the engine just under the PS reservoir and a little further back which means its squirting out under pressure. It's then running down the front of the engine behind the belts and smoking off on the way down.

I know what youre saying ref the garage but they didnt charge me labour for the last 2 times it went in - only parts. Their next thing they want to change is the pump itself - and the pump is fine. It's just a blummin seal somewhere and I cant find where. Someone must have had this before.

Please post if you can help guys. Don't want to throw cash into a bottomless pit.

Cheers.

nice guy

I had a very similar problem... found a pin ***** in the reservoir tank itself, went down the same road as you first though!

[Davey]

The other halfs 94 was leaking like a goodun..

- first leak was from the bolts on top of the reservoir. New o-rings under the bolts solved this, and some sealant between the two parts of the reservoir.

- and the second leak I THOUGHT was from the offside output shaft (because the rubber boot had disintegrated) so I thought sod it I'll get a rack and replace it.. Got the new rack, started removing the old one and realised one of the union nuts on the rack had come loose and was leaking fluid over the boot, tightened it up and its been fine for a month! But I've now got a spare rack

FutureBing

ok thanks guys. anyone else had any other similar problems - bearing in mind that its NOT from the rack as the oil is on top of the engine....

any more help or instructions of exactly what to do and where to check would be appreciated..

Thanks

[Davey]

The reservoir is two pieces with a seal in the middle and seals between the head of the bolts holding the top half down.. Best thing to do is to remove the bolts, split the reservoir, clean it up, put some silicone sealant between the two halfs, and apply some under the o-rings on the bolts before you re-tighten them.

FutureBing

righto - thats the reservoir sorted - tks davey.

Anything else I can check while its out? I read somehwere about this electrical connection being a possible leak point?

[Davey]

Not sure about that?

Worth checking the inlet/outlet connections, on the early models they are both standard union & nuts, on the later models on is a banjo bolt.. not sure which are more likely to fail though

FutureBing

I've found the problem!!! Now what to do with it....

"Here's our Graham with a quick reminder...."

I got the wife to sit in the car and turn the wheels while the engine was on. The PS fluid was squirting out of the grommet that holds that strange wire that goes into the back of the pump. (Might be a temp sensor).

What do i do with this? re-seal the grommet in place with araldite? or remove the sensor completely and seal the hole up?

"The decision is yours...."

Cheers.

[Davey]

Does the wire just come out of the rubber gromet? if so you'll have to find where the wire goes, if there is an obvious screwed fixed sensor you can apply some PTFE tape, other wise new pump time I guess?

FutureBing

Ive sorted it at last!!! i took the pump and tank off. Then noticed that this rubber grommit/seal that the probe goes through into the pump is only held on by the gasket that seals the pump to the pump backplate.

When the pump was under load, the PS fluid was getting forced through the seal, through the grommit and squirting THROUGH the actual electrical wire that is connected to the probe and then onto the engine top.

I stripped the pump and cleaned the bits with brake cleaner and then araldited the grommit to the wire to seal the gaps up, then siliconed the washer to the front of the grommit for extra protection. I fitted the probe back into the pump housing and araldited the edges of the seal lightly then siliconed over the top and around the contact point with the pump gasket. Re-fitted and filled her up. Rinsed off the engine top and let all the water steam off. It's all sweet now. No leaks at all. It'll be a bit of a cow to get the probe out again if i need to but can't see that I would have to again.

So....if you get a stupidly random leak ..... check what i printed above!!

Thanks for all your thoughts and ideas Scoobynetters.

Cheers,

Bing.