Is it oil,or power steering fluid or what?how can i tell what is leaking out of my 1998 dodge intrepid

Did you already checked on the steering rack?
Maybe you need to check from the bottom vehicle also. The leakage commonly occur at the hose joint and sometimes it occur at oil seal on steering rack.

Speak to the manager

You can get a dye to put in the power steering reservoir it makes the fluid glow

Follow steering coloumn into engine compartment, have someone turn steering wheel with front wheels off the ground(jack up car) Look to see what is turning and what is not.

It could be OIL (black) , Coolant (green or orange), transmission fluid (red) or power steering - brake fluid (yellow)

That is transmission fluid or power steering fluid, get the leak looked at right away, it does pose a serious fire hazard if it blows back on the hot exhaust system, have many fires from theses types of leaks..

Add power steering fluid

You must have a leak somewhere. The whinning noise is coming from the pump. They make that noise when they are out of fluid.

Are you seeing any puddles or oil drops on the ground under your car?

A power steering resevoir is't very large so it won't take very long or a very big leak to run it out of fluid.

There aren't that many parts to a power steering system either.

The leak would most likely becoming from a hose, a connection or from the power steering component cylinder or box.

you have a rack and pinion problem

Hi there!

It realy would be best to get it up on ramps to find out where the leak is.

Did it start at the same time as the flat tyre - i.e. did you go over something? if so, it may have stressed the steering (if power steering) and caused a seal failure. Or it may be that the sump has recieved a blow, causing the sump pan seal to leak a bit - or even crack.

If the oil is black - it's probably the sump, if lighter in colour, it is probably steering rack fluid or brake fluid.

Check the oil levels to see which one it is. If there is a large leak, or the brake fluid or steering fluid is leaking, the car is best recovered for repair, as driving it is dangerous.


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