power steering leak???

[bigyagi]

had a strange one today. its been cold in the morning, and today i was up early, and decided to give the old girl a run. started up ok, but funny noises from the steering pump. after a couple mins idling, i reverse out the drive, and see a huge puddle of atf, with a lovely track following the car. i open the hood/cap off, and about 1 inch of atf. drive car back up, fill up with atf, and no leak??? i drove the car tentatively for 20miles, and still no leak?? i'm puzzled by this one. i have had a very slow leak, which has required topping up every 2-3 months. the level only drops by about 1/2 inch or so. however, i see the passenger side sway bar bushing is wasted, no doubt due to getting atf on it. anyways, any ideas why it would leak like this, then stop. i'm looking at getting a rebuilt steering rack/power steering pump, and all new hoses etc etc.
bob.

[Zero10]

Where was it leaking from?
Check the boots on the rack. When sitting, they can fill with fluid, and when you turn the wheel it can squish out all of the ATF sitting inside of the boot.
If the track follows the car that's my guess. Time to track the leak down.

Passenger side sway bar bushing failure is also due to oil dripping on it when changing the oil filter.

[sca037]

XLNT suggestions, and in addition I've seen the PS pump leaking at the case seam when operating at full pressure (full lock only).

Happy New Year,
Brian