A very strange thing, happened, last night
I had Lares Corp overhaul my power steering "assembly" a coupla years
ago ( 'had been leaking like a sieve"), & highly recommend their service
[@ $600.00-ish]. Also, years ago, had had my power steering pump be
O/H'd ; again, with no problems.
So, last night, I had 3 passengers in the car, travelling to a
13-mile-away restaurant, & @ one time (on a highway!) may have 'hit'
75-80 mph.
So, when we slowed down, & turned off the highway, we all heard (& I
felt) a load 'groaning'
coming from the P/S pump-area.
As the restaurant was close by, I 'limped' into the P/Lot, opened the
hood, saw P/S fluid sorta-all-over the wheel well area. Opened the P/S
pump lid, & saw cavitated (foamy) P/S fluid
up to the top of the pump..
Went 'in', had a nice meal , & returned to the car about 1.5 hrs later,
to find that the oil had de-bubbled , & that the resevoir was slightly
over 1/2 full (I have heretofore [ESP-when the P/S assembly had been
leaking!!] kept the P/S pump resevoir almost topped-off, with
essentially NO prior problems.
I 'fingered' the inside of the resevoir, to check for foreign
objects/damage/obstructions, & found no apparent 'problems. The fluid
did not appear to be burnt .
Although I carry extra P/S fluid, I didn't put any in, as 1/2-full
appeared to be OK.
I took it 'easy' on the way home, & all was 'fine', like nothing had
happened.
This morning, I re-checked the P/s fluid [NOT-coincidentally , I had
"pre-flight" checked it, last night, before the trip, & all fluids
looked A-OK] & besides being about 1/2-full, it appeared to be "fine".
So: what happened, last night, & why? The only mechanical-work,
recently, has been the installation of the speedo/odo - cable "Gizmo".
The 'outside' temperature was mild, & the car did not 'overheat' (ran
cool, in fact).
The route was essentially straight-line (not a twisty- "winding"
back-road) .
"Long-time-on" Radial tires are all well-inflated.
When the P/S 'assembly' was leaking, I had put in a heavy-duty
(very-thick) "stop-leak" fluid, that worked sorta-ok. Now, I've just
got standard, "clear " dedicated-power-steering fluid in it.
Should I drain the current fluid (for whatever reasons) & replace it,
with WHAT?
Any compatibility problems with residual fluid
cross-contamination?
Can't believe that the 'cavitation' was caused by
'over' - filling of the P/S pump!
Neil Vedder
57 D500
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