power steering sump wet

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tmoretta
Posts: 193
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:30 pm
Location: Connecticut, U.S.A.

power steering sump wet

Post by tmoretta »

The cover on the power steering pump sump/can on my '88 U.S. M6 is wet and weeping fluid. What would cause fluid to wet the cover?
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Brucey
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Re: power steering sump wet

Post by Brucey »

the level in the system may be too high. Very commonly folk check it and top it up not using the prescribed method. (*).

a) To check the level properly (as per the owner's manual); turn the engine off and fully depress the brake pedal about twenty times. When the stored pressure/fluid in the system is exhausted, the brake pedal will go firm. Then look inside the reservoir. The level should be about 3/8" from the top, and there should be a gasket on the cover to stop any leakage should the fluid slop about inside the canister. if it has been overfilled then fluid will be spilling out as soon as you remove the cover.


b) If you think the reservoir might be over-filled already, check the level when the engine has just been run (and the brake pedal has not yet been depressed) before step a) above. If you can see fluid above the filter screen this means one of two things; either there is too much fluid in the reservoir or the nitrogen sphere ('bomb') is not storing fluid under pressure in the right way.

Having discharged the system as per a), start the engine and look at the fluid level. In maybe fifteen seconds the fluid level should fall below the filter mesh in the reservoir.


If the car is not used for a period of time then the nitrogen sphere discharges fluid (slowly, depending on how leaky the valves are) into the reservoir. After a few hours or a few days the effect is similar to step a) i.e. all the fluid is discharged into the reservoir. If the level is too high then it will overspill.

(*) note that if this has happened, it is as well to give a thought to the possibility that the wrong fluid has been used too. There are any number of PAS fluids that will stand a pretty good chance of damaging the system. The correct fluid is Dexron spec ATF. You should not use anything different to that. If you suspect the wrong fluid has been used then the system ought to be drained, run and and refilled a couple of times to purge it of the wrong fluid.

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tmoretta
Posts: 193
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:30 pm
Location: Connecticut, U.S.A.

Re: power steering sump wet

Post by tmoretta »

Thanks so much for the expert reply.
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