Thread: Wife's disco and the power steering fluid volcano

as long as its not on the paint

and maybe its finally found out you live near salt air?

Originally Posted by incisor

the wife's disco suddenly started emptying the power steering reservoir today

the pump appears to be shagged as it is making a bit of a rukus...

It's a worry if your Disco is making a Toyota!

Usual sign is the pump pulley walks outward spitting the serp belt and shredding it, havent heard of the pump emptying itself unless the seals failed.

The noise you hear is cavitation from aerated fluid in the pump, caused by an air leak into the pump either due to a faulty seal or running with a low reservoir level. No amount of refilling will fix the situation unless you get non aerated fluid back through the hydraulics. The pump may be stuffed, or a slow leak drained the reservoir. Getting the air out can be tricky and involves time to let the fluid in the reservoir de-aerate and topping up before the pump gets any more air into it.

Originally Posted by bee utey

The noise you hear is cavitation from aerated fluid in the pump, caused by an air leak into the pump either due to a faulty seal or running with a low reservoir level. No amount of refilling will fix the situation unless you get non aerated fluid back through the hydraulics. The pump may be stuffed, or a slow leak drained the reservoir. Getting the air out can be tricky and involves time to let the fluid in the reservoir de-aerate and topping up before the pump gets any more air into it.

it spurts out of the breather hole in the cap after the steering gets used.

not something i have seen before

i tried bleeding the system the usual way and the fluid in the steering box wasn't aerated whilst it was definitely aerated and pouring out of the breather in the reservoir cap.

it didn't start to empty itself till i started moving the steering from lock to lock

the pump definitely doesn't sound to flash and there is some movement to and fro, so am hoping that is the issue...

well it taint the pump...

so it has to be the steering box it would appear as there are no other leaks anywhere, including the steering box....

has me in i have to say...

G`day ,

if not fixed yet i would look at either the filter or return line for a blockage .

Inc,
I think your good wifes car is a D1, but I think the steering boxes are similar. Correct me if I am wrong.

If so the exact same thing happened to me on the Manta Ray barge to Fraser in 2014.
Spewed oil everywhere then continued to leak profusely after top up for quite a few km.
Eventually it stopped and just retained the oil.
Studying the oil spray pattern (CSI style) I also came to the conclusion that it was the steering box.
They are little annoying to get out, but once out I put an o'ring kit through the box. Procedure is in Rave, it's actually quite easy. The hardest bit was removing the pitman arm, as the Rave makes it sound easier than it is! I had to remove the pump with it attached then use mister press to dislodge it! Upon re-assembly, I nipped everything up tight and have been monitoring since. Apart from a slight weep around the adjuster screw, no probs yet. I also fitted a spare pump and flushed the system and now run this
Penrite Power Steering Fluid - PAS, 1 Litre - Supercheap Auto Australia

I will say though that the steering is noticeably heavier but re-centres and functions correctly.

Cheers
Ralph