power steering fluid smells....burnt?

[SuperHO]

welp, on top of all the other wonderful issues suddenly plaguing this car out of the blue, now I think the power steering pump's dying.

I've been dealing with some sort of fluid leak that I can't chase down. I know it's leaking on the front of the engine and onto the exhaust there, and I can tell by the smell it's not oil. Obvious guesses are power steering fluid or trans fluid due to the tartness in the smell. I just can't figure out which due to the fact that neither one is low at all, although the power steering fluid's pretty high in the resevoir and smelling rather burnt. Is that a sign of a bad power steering pump?

thanks to the straight pipes, I can't really hear it whining, and steering effort hasn't changed at all...just the high level in the resevoir and burnt smell are the only things that stand out to me.

 

[dlanes]

Well for starters you should flush it with some new ATF, then check the hoses. It's really common for the power steering rack to leak, I just had mine replaced not long ago.

 

[SuperHO]

I'm assuming I just undo the return line and feed it into a bucket while I pour fresh fluid into the resevoir to flush it?

the only thing that's giving me pause is that while I'm getting a fair bit of smoke from whatever fluid it is hitting the exhaust, none of the fluids are low. Trans is fine, as is brake fluid. From the smell, I can tell it's not oil burning.

though I do know how little it takes to make a generous smoke cloud, so it may just be a tiny lil leak....

 

[SHOZ123]

The hose coming off the pump is pretty finicky sometimes when it comes to sealing. It may not be leaking at idle but if you wiggle the steel line around it will leak.