Power Steering Issue

Starting a new thread for this to avoid confusion.

Just had my steering rack replaced with a Toyota rack. Last night my power steering ran low again after ~200 miles of driving. Had to drive 1 mile and luckily got to Advanced Auto 10 minutes before they closed to pick up some ATF. Truck made it 60 miles home with minimal leakage.

This afternoon I jacked up the front and turned the wheels to check for leaks. The power steering reservoir started overflowing, presumably because there is a bunch of air in the system.

Now I have a chicken or the egg scenario. Was the leak yesterday because the mechanic who installed my rack didn't properly bleed the system? Or is there now air in the system because the fluid level got too low and I drove it 1 mile to get some ATF? Or door #3 is there a common leak that has gone undetected through all of this that is introducing air into the system and has caused all of these continued issues (pump had just been replaced when I bought it and this is the 2nd rack replacement in ~10k miles, although last one was aftermarket)

I would like to flush the system and get the air out, but I'm afraid I'm just going to be wasting time and several quarts of ATF fluid when this has to be done in the near future if there is truly still a leak somewhere. Since I already had the mechanic do the job the plan is to take it back to him anyways in case it is something he did wrong. Will it be enough of a problem driving the truck 20 minutes there to just do the flush?

 

Disconnect the belt and turn the Pump Pulley and observe the Rez at the same time. Check for leaks on the ground. I thought these systems were self burping by turning wheel so maybe you have a clog?

 

I'll give that a go. I'm not sure about the self purging part, but there's definitely air bubbles coming out of the reservoir as the fluid level rises.

 

Work the Mojo. Something is wrong if you’ve lost fluid in less than 200miles. I’ve heard its best to replace the entire system (hoses, pump, and rack) at the same time. High Dolla, but no problems.

 

Nevermind - this is normal. I was doing it with the key in ACC position and the pump wasn't moving liquid out, only the return fluid was coming in with nowhere to go (duh). Back to square one. I did also try this with the engine running but nothing showed up on the floor or underneath.

 

I have also heard these are self burping systems. No need to bleed. I know mine seeps a little from the steering hoses but not that kind of leak. Check under your inner tie rod boots.

 

Boots didn't seem to be leaking at all. It's a brand new rack so I wouldn't expect it to be there but who knows. I thought I saw a slight amount of red tinged fluid on the bottom of the rack but it didn't come back after I wiped it off, at least just by turning the wheel. Wish I could get it to show itself when parked but doesn't seem to be that easy.

 

Wipe everything down, drive around to warm things up, then hunt for leaks? Fluid had to go somewhere.