Power steering leak, where to begin?

[cwilliamsws6]

The other day I noticed a puddle on my driveway and thought it was oil at first but then today my steering got really rough and I noticed my E-PSF reservoir was empty.

I'm not too familiar with Nissan electric power steering systems so where would y'all suggest I begin looking first for the leak?

 

[TheLastWord]

Marked for reference. Did not know these hybrid units existed.

Hose, connections, dye?

 

[clinebarger]

Some Chrysler products had a electric motor powered hydraulic PS pumps....Find the vicinity of the leak first.

 

[ripcord]

I'd start with engine de-greaser and a good wash followed by a UV dye leak detection kit.

 

[RF Overlord]

Agree w/the others...you need to locate the source of the leak first. Put a piece of cardboard under the engine bay to help narrow it down.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I believe most of the Nissan ones are the HItachi all in one system - so basically an electric motor power integrated with a hydraulic pump is all one unit with the rack & Pinion. So hopefully your leak is in one of the hoses to the reservoir because thats likely the only serviceable part.

Clean the whole thing off with degreaser then look for leaks I guess.

 

[97prizm]

Will stop leak help, or will that cause more issues. I thought electric power steering had no hydraulic fluid to leak.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I thought electric power steering had no hydraulic fluid to leak.

There are a bunch of different kinds.

There is complete electric - where a gear motor drives the steering. No fluid - at least not hydraulic fluid - possible lubricant? I believe this is what my Toyota has.

There are electronic controlled pumps - that are still belt driven but they modulate the amount of fluid pumped electronically somehow, rather than just running at the rate of the engine.

Then there is a version that is a electric motor attached to a hydraulic pump, so its still hydraulic just run by an electric motor - to save fuel I presume.

No idea which the OP has?

 

[RF Overlord]

Unless the car is a beater that you just need to limp along for a little bit, do not use any "mechanic in a can" stop-leak.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

I stopped by the Nissan dealer today to pick up a bottle of E-PSF to top it off until I'm able to look at it more in depth. Got a lot of meetings at work today otherwise I'd be working on it now.

It ended up taking almost the entire bottle to get to the minimum level in the reservoir, and now the pump is screaming like Ric Flair.

 

[ripcord]

Dang! That does not sound good.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

Dang! That does not sound good.

Would be pretty consistent with how my luck has been otherwise this year.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

The leak appears to be coming from that shiny area. Assuming that's my return line?

 

[cwilliamsws6]

I'm assuming this goes back to when my transmission got replaced last year, but literally none of the brackets for my power steering lines are bolted in place. So my metal lines were hanging down and on a long enough timeline, rubbed through and began to leak.

 

[Nukeman7]

What a shoddy job! I think you need to take it back to the shop that replaced the CVT and have them pick up the bill for replacing that leaky line and properly re-attaching the mounting brackets.

Also, is that the correct K&W oil filter for your Nissan? The filter's diameter looks too small for the mounting flange base plate.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

What a shoddy job! I think you need to take it back to the shop that replaced the CVT and have them pick up the bill for replacing that leaky line and properly re-attaching the mounting brackets.

Also, is that the correct K&W oil filter for your Nissan? The filter's diameter looks too small for the mounting flange base plate.

I wouldn't let them touch my lawnmower after seeing this.

And yes it's the correct filter. HP-1010 same size as a 7317