help! power steering fluid vanishing on ZX

[zx&xantia]

Hi everyone,

I had my trusty zx broken into on sunday with the culprits smashing the glass, wrecking the door with a crow bar and then pinching my radio Sorted that with a 40 quid door from the scrappy but now i have developed another problem.

My power steering fluid is vanishing No obvious signs of leaking but there may well be if i could get under there. I was wondering if anyone knows of the most likely leak points or if this vanishing act may be a sign of the power steering pump dying (gsf want 130 quid for one of these)

Trying to save time as i use the car every day so any insight from anyone who may have experiened similar losses would be great.

Many thanks, Mark

[Peter.N.]

If there is no evidence of a fluid leak, try squeezing the steering rack gaiters to see if they have fluid inside them as you could have a failed internal seal.

[jeremy]

If you find the rack bellows full of PAS fluid it must be a sign that one of the pinion valve seals have failed as these cars have an external ram.

There is at least one in-line joint or junction between flexi and steel pipe in front of the engine - this could be a culprit.

I'd find a nice clean bit or road or drive, park up, leave it and have a look for stains after a little while.

[oscarloco]

Check the hoses. Apparently they have limited durability. The ones in my car have started to crack and I've had 2 leaks, one pending to fix today.