2006 Subaru Legacy Wagon Power Steering issue

20

Asked by dicesar2 Dec 11, 2018 at 05:22 PM about the 2006 Subaru Legacy 2.5i AWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I recently started to notice a bit of a whine coming from what I thought was
my power steering.  This was confirmed over this past weekend when I came
home and noticed was leaking some fluid.  Upon opening up my engine
compartment I saw that the PS fluid was foamy and it had leaked out of the
top of the resevoir.  It also looks like there was a bit of fluid coming out
somewhere near the pump (much smaller amount).

I thought this was an indicator of air getting into the system.  I replaced the
clamps on the intake hose and tried bleeding the air out by putting my car up
on jacks and rotating the wheel back and forth numerous times.

When I turned the car on again, I now have white smoke coming from the
engine compartment.  It seems to be coming from the lower passenger side.  

My question is two fold.  First, what could this white smoke be?  Second, if
I'm still getting a whine, what else could I try?

Thanks for your thoughts!

2 Answers

43,910

You've done all the right things to fix the problem. Most hydraulic (p/steering) pumps whine, especially as they age and clearances loosen up a bit. As long as they pump, keep going. Fluid might be thinning out so maybe add some new after syphoning out some of the old. The white smoke? That is probably power steering fluid hitting the hot exhaust pipe. It's somewhat flammable at high temps so wipe up excess leakage.

1 people found this helpful.
10

It might be your pump going out. Might have to replace it. Just replaced mine yesterday. Same problems.

1 people found this helpful.

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