power steering leak in my 300te
 

been tracing down a fluid leak on my 300te. I have recently replaced valve ring seals, valve cover gasket and gasket where the timing belt is (not sure of the name)..still finding a leak. I looked in my power steering resevoir and noticed it was almost all gone..guess I found the leak. Is this problem normally an easy, inexpensive, fix? I've spent prett good money on this vehicle $1200 since I purchased it (for $1900)..I guess I'm in the area of fixing and keeping for a 100k miles. Let me know what I'm looking at to get my leak fixed.

Thanks!

Where in the system is it leaking P/S fluid from? Is the pump covered with a thin layer of fluid?

If it's leaking from the pump, the reseal kit is pretty cheap, and the disassembly is fairly straightforward, with just a couple of tricky spots. But it's not bad, and I did it a couple years ago on my 300E and my pump is still dry.

Oh, and don't use ATF in the P/S system. I still haven't gotten all of that stuff out of my system, and I'm just hoping it won't start leaking again before I can replace the car.

I can't find the exact leak from looking down from the top. The reservoir and the pump below does have grime on it as does everything in the vicinity of it. There may be a hose that is leaking..can't tell..it comes off the power steering pump and is clamped..I can't tell but it appears to have much grease/grime on it.

Ok..I filled to the top and drove about 10miles..now I see fluid all over the top of reservoir..is there a seal that is supposed to be on the resevoir top? I don't have one on my top. If so, can I buy this seal seperate from the big seal kit for ps?

Yeah, you can buy the reservoir gasket separately. I think the reservoir cap will weep a little bit normally, either from the little black knob on top or the reservoir cap, but it shouldn't be more than a thin film of fluid coating the reservoir.

Also the P/S hoses can/do leak, especially the low-pressure one. Note that if you need a low-pressure hose, get the hose from the dealer. The one available from WorldPac is 2mm too narrow to fit over the flanges. I haven't replaced my high-pressure side hose yet, all I know is that it's much more expensive. :)

anthony

Thanks..as far as I can tell it was only the res gasket. There was not one on it when I replaced. Happy New Year!

I just replaced the gasket and filter on my 92, no one ever talks about it, it crumbled when I took it out. I also flushed it, Febi flud not that expensive.