TheStock

I tried searching for this, but couldn't quite find the answer I'm looking for.

I haven't had the time to get under the car and figure out what exactly failed, but I lost all my power steering fluid as I was driving and apparently was leaving a cloud behind me. At one point smoke was pouring through the vents until I hit the re-circulation button and it stopped. Is it normal for the ventilation to pull all that smoke in?

(Granted my venting system is kind of screwy anyway; the fan doesn't blow out the main vents and I don't really get any hot air unless I hit the defrost and then I'm bombarded with it. I've read there's heater clips, servos, control units, heater valve that could be a problem, but I'm not so worried about it at this point.)

V2Rocket

check the line coming out of the power steering reservoir, if it leaked then p/s fluid could have dripped onto the headers and made smoke.

TheStock

Well, I lost all of the fluid in a matter of 20-30 minutes of highway and light city driving; there's not a drop left except static fluid so it's a significant leak whether it be the line, pump, or steering rack (again ).

My question was not so much why there's smoke, I'm sure there's enough pressure for the fluid to get somewhere hot enough to burn it. I was wondering more about whether it was normal for the ventilation system to pull all that smoke in.

V2Rocket

well the air intake for the cabin is right behind the engine so any smoke that doesnt go out the bottom of the engine bay could go through there. normally the hood is supposed to seal against the firewall though.

phil74501

Just make sure when you refill it to use ATF not power steering fluid. And don't ask me how I know that.

TheStock

Ouch, that sucks. I had to rebuild the rack last summer/ fall and made sure to use ATF, thanks for the reminder though.

I forgot to mention I was on the freeway going about 65mph when the smoke was pouring in. Seems like that speed would be enough to sweep the smoke away, but you're saying if there was enough of it and the hood wasn't sealed completely, that I could be potentially pulling it through the vents.. right? I couldn't even tell I was smoking until a buddy driving behind me phoned and said so. I didn't see any coming out of the front of the car...