lost my power steering fluid

[jk]

Just crossed the 500 mile mark on my SRT/10 and was turning into the parking lot at work this morning and noticed the steering was becoming harder. Checked the fluid which was low, didn't notice any fluid under the car or in the engine bay, and called my Super Viper Tech and we agreed I should bring it on in for him to look at. Power steering fluid shouldn't just evaporate...

Stopped by the auto parts store and picked up a bottle of fluid, topped of the reservoir, and headed over to the dealership. Well, about 3 miles to go and the temp gauge starts rising. Loosing power steering fluid is a bad thing in an SRT/10 since the fan is driven hydraulically from the power steering pump and you can quickly overheat the engine, as I have real-life experience with now. So I pull over and pour the rest of the fluid into the reservoir which was almost empty but enough to get the fan running again and limped into the dealership. The leak was getting progressive worse, since just a few minutes with the car parked in the bay and there was a huge puddle of power steering fluid under the car. Keith, my viper tech looked under the car and says it appears the leak is from the steering rack. (So much for my hopes of a quick fix from a loose hose or fitting...) Anyway the car is going to there for a while until they can determine where and when a replacement steering rack can be found.

[Vic]

Ha! If it was a Gen2, we could have you up and running in no time with a steering rack from a Dakota!

(I hope this sounds humorous to you, 'cause thats my intent!)

You'll get your Snake fixed quick enough, and the incident will fade into the past as a brief anomaly.

[cstegall]

jk,
Saw your car today at the dealership(beautiful car)....stopped by to visit with Keith about mine and was very surprised to hear about your trouble. No problem with mine but I did tell Keith to keep an eye on it.
Thanks for the post...

CStegall

[jk]

Yeah, Keith said this was the first one he has heard about with this trouble. You could see that the rubber boot on the steering rack was split when you looked down from the top of the engine, but it had to be a bad seal which was causing all the fluid leakage.