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95 contour, massive P/S leak

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protege_chris

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Messages
103
I was turning into Wal-Mart today and I noticed whenever I turned I heard this hissing/grinding type noise..

I parked, and saw almost a constant drip of P/S fluid dropping onto the ground, I popped the hood and almost the entire firewall corner of the passenger side of the engine is wet from P/S fluid (i assume). I checked the reservoir and it was completely empty.

Went in and bought some more, filled it up.. it still made the sound a few (random) times just idling at first, but didn't make it (as far as i could hear) on the way home. Leaked about a fifth of the fluid out in the mile or 1.5 on the way home. Constant leak from the same place.. somewhere behind the passenger side wheel.

I don't have any pictures (Ran out of daylight), but what are the obvious points that I should start checking out?
 
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Common to have a line rust out, not an easy replacement. The steering reservoir has hoses leading to it as well (under it)
 
My '95 tour had a power steering leak like you described. First I would try to determine exactly where the leak is coming from. There is the power steering pressure line that runs to your rack for steering, a little line that runs from your pump to the pressure line and your pump (warning dealer only part for the previous item) for the pressure lines and of course a supply line from the reservoir. On mine I replaced the pressure line and the little pressure line from the pump to the pressure line and still had the leak, it ended up being the pump was leaking.

Hope this helps.
 
I had the car running and located the leak, it's a steady stream of fluid (shown in picture). Steadily pours out when engine is on. Is this P/S fluid? what's the part name/how do I replace it?

Looks like part of the gasket (I assume there is one inside?) is poking out, and when it bursted or whatever, the fluid sprayed the hood and surrounding areas. Hopefully this is the only leak.. was no fluid on engine previously.
 

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I am going to attempt to patch this with epoxy tonight, I don't have much money so I doubt I can afford to replace the part (though it'll still be good to know what it's called so I'll know what to get eventually)
 
That is the high pressure line and pressure switch. Pressure is way to high for epoxy. Is the leak from the nut or the switch. If it's a sudden strong leak it's likely something cracked and will need to be replaced. Running the pump without fluid will kill the pump in under five minutes and then you are looking at big money.
 
It's not VERY strong, but it is a constant flow of fluid out whenever the car is running. I have driven 3 miles but have kept the reservoir full (running fluid with stopleak which isnt doing any good).

The leak is coming out from the nut that attaches to the line, right at the tip of the arrow. So, what needs to be replaced, the part that has the electrical plug attached.. is it separate from the line?
 
I'll remove the switch tomorrow and hopefully find a crack in it rather than the hose.. any tips on installing a new one, do I need to use gasket maker or anything on the threads or just pop the old one out and the new one in?
 
twocontours said:
That is the high pressure line and pressure switch. Pressure is way to high for epoxy. Is the leak from the nut or the switch. If it's a sudden strong leak it's likely something cracked and will need to be replaced. Running the pump without fluid will kill the pump in under five minutes and then you are looking at big money.
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Not true... i ran a pump empty for well over 2 months.... (High pressure line had a hole in it, and was not able to fix it for a while)
 
I'll go out tomorrow morning and take the switch out and look for the crack. Any guides on replacing the hose if it ends up being that instead? And as my last post said, do I need gasket maker or anything for the switch?

edit: Found the Autozone guide for replacing the hose, not REALLY descriptive but might do. I'm still hoping it's just the switch, so that question is still valid.
 
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Which engine do you have? The autozone parts twocontours listed I know are for a Duratec You do not need any gasket sealer or anything but a couple of wrenches and some time. My dad and I ended up using 2 18mm wrenches one sawed off and bent to be able to access the other end of the pipe at the rack. If you have a zetec I don't know how that one is setup. If you do have a duratec I replace the entire pressure line from the pump to the rack so I know what you have to go through to replace it.
 
The o-ring on the switch has started falling apart so that's where the leak came from. Is it possible to just get this oring?

Advance, Autozone, and Oreilly's locally don't have it in stock, (only autozone has it available online but it's out of stock there too).

Aside from the Dealership, I may just have to go get one from the junkyard because I need the car running by tomorrow.
 
I know when I order from autozone it normally is a couple of days (2-3 Max) when ordering parts from them i don't necessarily check online if they have the parts online.

About the o-ring is it a rubber o-ring or a plastic o-ring?

oh btw if it is a 4 banger contour it is a zetec. duratec is the v6.

good luck.
 
It's a rubber o-ring, the one in the car kind of disintegrated, big chunk is taken out of it. Autozone is sold out on their website too, so I really CAN'T get the whole part. Hoping I can get the oring somewhere..
 
I meant to say that i have never ordered from autozone online only through the store. I wouldn't imagine they would use a special o-ring for that switch but I don't know. I wouldn't trust a used o-ring.
 
I did put in a used one i nabbed from the junkyard and it doesn't seem to be pouring out anymore.. there is still a drip from the bottom of the car, but I'll give it a day or so because it might just be what's left of the old leak dripping down. I trust the used one from the junkyard more than the one I had because there's not a chunk missing out if *it*.

Anyone who might happen to know where I could get an o-ring for this, let me know.. I sure don't want to pay $35+ shipping for a part I don't really need just for this piece of rubber.
 
You should be able to get random o rings from any parts store or hardware store just bring the one you have in and match it up with something they have
 
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