I need some suggestions....I have a 94 vette---manual. It has been behaving lately, but last night I went to work and a few hours later, a co-worker came in and told me that the car looked like it was leaking. I grabbed a flashlight and sure enough, there was a puddle under the car. I checked all the fluid reserviours...coolent, brake, clutch, power steering. Everything was good except for the P/S....I had no loss of power on the drive over and the column still had power when I moved the car over a few spots. I compared the fluid on the ground to what I could scavange from the P/S reserviour and they looked identical on the white paper towel. The fluid was a very very pale yellow and had a light oil feel to it. The leak made a large puddle that was more towards the driver-front side. I friend went a bought more P/S fluid (Valvoline Synthetic) and I refilled the reserviour. Initally it did not leak. I turned the engine over and it was not leaking. I went back inside the building and when I came out 10 minutes later....there it was...another big puddle. This I am sure was P/S fluid. I drove home becuas I refused to leave my car alone in the parking lot and I had no problems. I had power steering the entire way (+/-15 miles). I did not take the interstate and the tack never got above 2K. I did not do high speeds becuase I was afraid that if a high pressure hose was leaking that it would spray onto the wheels and I would not have brakes. Is this type of leak indiciative to P/S? Is it the pump, the hose, the rack......HELP!!! I have not gotten a good look at the pump becuase of its location above the cross-members. Any suggestions would be great. Also, be as it may, now when the car is on, it get the "LOW COOLENT" warning....ugh.

 

The hoses are a known problem area.Check them close.

 

Rise the car and clean the entire area thoroughly, rack, pump and hoses. It should be easy to pinpoint. I removed the P/S pump only because it had 160,000 miles of buildup and I wanted to clean it. As it turned out, fluid was leaking from the hose so I replaced all the clamps, been fine for 2 years.

 

The rack-to-resovoir pipe (metal) is a common culprit, too. Many owners use Lucas PS stop leak with great success.