Power steering problem

[isadisa]

My power steering fluid is leaking out, it appears to be coming out of the cap on top of the resevoir because we cleaned the entire system and put a rag under the resevoir and the rag is completely saturated in p/s fluid, everywhere else is bone dry....when you look at the resevoir with the car idling the fluid seems to get all BUBBLY....we can't understand what is wrong and we keep adding the honda p/s fluid (about 1 bottle every 2 weeks)....anyone here have any good suggestions or ideas???

I replaced my p/s pump in May of this year, and the entire rack in July....I also recently replaced the hoses going to and from the resevoir and have changed the resevoir itself twice...also I have an AEM pulley on the p/s pump.

http://www.speedoptions.com/members/95159/28998/pic9.jpg

[isadisa]

Nobody has any ideas??

[Mantis88LX]

sorry cant help but did that aem pully help any? also does it effect steering power any?

[AZmike]

I've done a lot of work on my PS system and have never seen my resevior leak at the cap. Is the fluid level is right all I could guess is that one of the hoses mght be kinked....but now that I've reread your post you've replaced so many parts that there's nothing left for me to suspect (including the new hoses).

I could post all the related technical service bulletins, but none of them remind me of your problem (which I've never seen before).

[Xulfiqar]

check your check valve in your transmission - maybe its stuck to high pressure

and its normal to see some fluid jump around in the reservior when the steering is turned. - tell me something else - is the pulley the same size as the original. coz if not then the pump would be pumping too fast or too slow

[isadisa]

Well when I bought the car the power steering pump was bad and the pulley was bent (it wobbled)....we put on the AEM pulley because it was straight and free (it had been laying around the shop forever), it is a little bigger than the stock one, but is about 1/3 the weight...the steering feels great with it.

The fluid doesn't just jump around a little, it foams up and starts poaring out, very frustrating, also, how can we check the check valve in the transmission?

Thanks for all the help everyone!

[AZmike]

Originally posted by Xulfiqar
check your check valve in your transmission - maybe its stuck to high pressure

and its normal to see some fluid jump around in the reservior when the steering is turned. - tell me something else - is the pulley the same size as the original. coz if not then the pump would be pumping too fast or too slow

The pump has an internal over-pressure valve. The pump speed doesn't matter much as long as it doesn't spin too slow at idle to give enough assist. As higher rotating speeds all of the excess pressure is relieved through the internal valve.

[AccordEpicenter]

Did you check the high pressure ps cooling line behind the front bumper in front of the radiator and ac condenser? They go bad all the time, rust out, but maybe yours is clogged or somthing???

[isadisa]

Well maybe its clogged, I never noticed anything unusual on the cooler line, but I'll have my boyfriend and I check it out real thoroughly....rust is not a problem out here in Nevada, we never get any:)

[anchovies]

yeap...that's what boyfriend's are for =)

[Haolerot]

My car was doing the same thing untill i started putting the fluid in when my car was on...you have to use the honda ps fluid to....if not it could fuck up your car, but i dont know what ya use

[isadisa]

Well, the cooler line looks fine....we used a generic brand of 'honda' power steering fluid, and are wondering if maybe that is the problem....also, upon really close inspection it seams as if the pump is leaking from around the bolt that holds the pulley on....this pump is less than a year old and has a lifetime warranty from Napa, so we are gonna take it off and go trade it in at Napa when we get a chance......oh the fun :)

My boyfriend is also going to sand down and primer (using some good 2K primer) the whole car for christmas, so at least it wont look like such a pos! yeah :)

[AZmike]

I had a similar problem with both PS pumps I tried from the junk yard. The pulley shaft seals were all bad. It's a $5 part. But if you've got the warranty, then I guess that doesn't matter.

It wouldn't hurt to switch back to genuine Honda PSF. Every parts guy I talked to about the PS system would always ask if I was using Honda PSF as soon as I said I had a leak.