Please Help! Power Steering leak

[giftedrighty321]

Ok so i was driving on the highway the other night when i noticed my power steering seemed to be cutting on and off. When i got home i just parked the car and let it sit for the night. The next morning i drove it maybe 5 blocks and had no power steering what so ever then i noticed when i parked i was getting a small amount of smoke from under the hood. when i looked under the hood i had power steering fluid all over around the alternator and belts. I noticed an unplugged wire hanging from the very bottom of the driver side front bumper that is hanging over the two steel lines that run in front of the radiator. Can this be causing the leak? i looked around but cant seem to figure out where that plug connects. I seem to think it may be the cause because i never had power steering problems before and never noticed that plug hanging. I specificly remember hitting some hard bumps that may have knocked that plug loose. i followed the plug and its only about 6 inches of cord that comes out of a wire bundle covered in hard plastic that runs the length of the front bumper all the way to the other side. If this isnt the problem can somebody please tell me how i can find the leak i looked over the power steering lines and i dont see any visible breaks. Please help i really appreciate any advice! By the way the car is a 98 gst. thank you

 

[Benshooter]

Clean off your alternator immediately! Chances are it's already ruined, but spray it off with some electronics-safe cleaner as soon as you can and definately before you drive it again.

Can you take a pic of the loose plug or describe it better? I'm on my phone so I can't link you to it but go to the engine tech articles and you'll find a list of every engine connector with pictures.

 

[giftedrighty321]

here

here are two pics of where the plug im talking about is located. my plug was hanging over the two steel lines exactly like the second picture. i couldnt take any pics of my car because its allready dark but the second pic is exactly what im looking at on my car with the two steel lines and the plug hanging over them. i circled the part im talking about in blue. all other plugs are connected just this one is hanging over the steel lines.

the plug im talking about conncts into i pretty thick harness wrapped in the plastic covering that runs parallel to the front bumper on the bottom. because of the location i was thinking maybe it was for fog lights to be hooked up but im not sure never noticed it unplugged before and now i have this leak. please help!

 

[dabishop1983]

Like Benshooter said, definitely clean off the alternator. Power steering can take out an alternator quick.Those two metal lines up front is the power steering cooler which can rust and develop holes to cause power steering leaks. I would try wiping everything down and start the car, turn the steering wheel back and forth a couple times and see if it starts leaking from those lines. If not, check to see if you can trace where the leak is coming from. Let us know how it goes.

 

[giftedrighty321]

i really dont think it has anything to do with the two lines up front i just wanted to know if anybody knew what that plug is hanging over them. The only reason i dont think its those lines is because i have steering fluid up high in the engine bay like pretty much in the headlight and on and around the power steering canister. i think where ever its coming from is above the alternator but to be honest im not sure and dont know ways to test it. like i said tho i dont see any visible cracks or breaks but when i took the power steering cap off i barely had any in the canister. it really got all over but like it was all a sudden no problems ever untill last night.

 

[dabishop1983]

I was mainly suggesting that would be a good place to check for leaks but if if the fluid is mainly up high, it sounds like its coming from the power steering pump, resorvoir or one of the lines that are connected to them. They are all right there in that area. I would still do a thorough cleaning of the waste power steering fluid, add power steering fluid to the resorvoir, start the car, turn the wheel back and forth several times to build pressure. If you're fluid is pretty low now, it should leak a noticeable amount so you can trace the source. I'm not sure what that plug is called that you were referring to, but it is unrelated to your loss of power steering/fluid. PM me if you want, I can walk you through it.