martinkm

I noticed a small puddle on the floor under the passenger side of the engine - appears to be roughly under the power steering fill tube.

There is also fluid in the little cup that surrounds the fill tube.

This morning I started the car and let it run for 20 seconds (per the manual) and then shut it off to check the fluid. The manual says it should be at the cold line, but mine was at the hot line.

I've searched the forums and I know this has happened to at least one other person but I haven't' seen any recommendations on causes or fixes.

I jacked the car up and everything around the pump (high pressure lines etc) appear dry.

I also saw some comments about bad clutch slave cylinders allowing fluid from the clutch to get bypassed into the power steering system. My car has about 22,000 miles on it - its done 5 or 6 track days but the last one was over a year ago - been doing daily driver duty since then.

Can anyone suggest a likely culprit or debug path? I think I'm just out of warranty, so I'd like to have a better idea of my problem before taking it into the dealer.

If it were a slave cylinder, is that a DIY'able project?

Many thanks!!

Evolved Rs

UV dye and a light to see where its leaking from.

martinkm

I don't think its an issue of finding the source of the leak. The power steering reservoir has a 'catchment' cup that runs around the perimeter of the fill tube and that cup has oil in it. In addition, the power steering reservoir is at the hot full line when checked with engine cold, suggesting the reservoir is overfull.

Everything I've searched for suggests this problem mostly happens with the turbo cars with the hydraulic assist on the clutch. I've only seen a couple references to people who've had it happen with a GT3, but it appears it does happen.

Maybe a better question would be - what is the most likely failure mode that would allow oil from the clutch to accumulate in power steering pump and overflow?

thanks,
Ken

Evolved Rs

The clutch are not power assisted on these cars. Try sucking some fluid out to the proper level and see what happens.

Spyerx

Yes, this is NOT connected to the clutch on these cars!

Pull some fluid out, get level right, ensure you have no other leaks. Do NOT drive the car if it is leaking. Hydraulic fluid is very flammable.

You don't want to run this thing high or low on fluid.

Anyway, get the fluid level right when HOT and see if the issue returns.

Liquid911

Mine had the same symptoms, turned out the guys overfilled the fluid, especially given the incredible G's I'm able to pull whilst on the track. Drain some fluid and all should be OK. If not, stop using the steering wheel as you should turn these cars using the brakes anyway.

martinkm

Thanks for the comments.

I'd like to believe the system was overfilled, but am having a hard time that the car came that way from the factory and has been fine for the last 4 years / 22,000 miles and just decided now to start overflowing! I had my brake system flushed at my last service around 5000 miles ago, but again, if there's no cross-talk between these systems I can't understand where this additional fluid came from? FWIW, my brake reservoir is not low.

My previous search did turn up someone with a GT3RS that had had a similar problem:

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...+steering+leak

but he was never specific about where the leak was coming from. I did come across some links to other makes/models where a leaking o-ring would allow air to get sucked in and cause the fluid to get frothy and cause a volume expansion. I think I've ruled that out as the volume remains high even after sitting for several days. Really stumped as to what could have caused this and reluctant to bring it to the dealer for a snipe hunt as I'm confident they will find something they want to replace!

Thanks again!