Power Steering Leak?
 

Looking for thoughts on the source of a leak that sprung out of my 2001 986S recently (pics below).

For the past 6 years the Boxster has been stored winters offsite (~Nov to March), but we moved into a new house over the summer and I now have room to store it in my home garage. As such, I had access to the car during our unusually warm and dry December, so I commuted to work in it for the week prior to Xmas, even getting out for a spin on Christmas Eve. Outside temperatures were in the range of -5C to +5C (25F to 40F).

The last times I had the car out, it leaked fluid afterwards. My best guess is power steering fluid? It's oily with little to no smell. I believe its a clear fluid and is picking up the rust colour from other components after it has leaked. Perhaps from a leaky power steering pump or from the overflow line? From a driving perspective, I didn't observe anything out of the ordinary in terms of steering effort, noise, etc. Thoughts?

This is the 1st time I've driven the car in these temperatures - could that have contributed to the issue or just a coincidence?



https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...52a445f554.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...7944cba021.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...52c143af51.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...6b01fbb02c.jpg

If it is a PS leak, you should be able to see oil on the top part of the engine, some parts of the structure of the engine makes some "pools", and you should be able to touch and see that.
Sure, other component (oil filter, etc..) could also make leaks in this place.
Open to top engine (roof in "service" position), and take a look at "what's up" down there !

Have to agree with Deof3. That looks more like coolant. Coolant has a slick feel between the fingers but should be water soluble.

Check the power steering and coolant and brake fluid levels.

If that is power steering fluid the level should be down. The power steering system doesn't not hold a lot of fluid so any fluid loss will show up as a low fluid level. If the level is down top it up as a power steering pump does not do well under low fluid level conditions.

Be sure you use the right power steering fluid. I believe -- but you need confirmation -- the fluid is Pentosin. Anyhow, use the right fluid.

While you have the engine cover removed and the engine exposed check for any leak sign.

And that is only half the job. The car needs to be lifted up and a careful/thorough check made for any leak sign from under the car.

Now that winter seems to be over, I got to take a closer look. I agree with the other posters that it is definitely coolant. It's been slowly leaking over the last 3 months as the car has been parked; seemed like more came out after things warmed up after our record February deep freeze (avg temp for month was -20C). I crawled under today and could see small drip off the bottom of the left cat - started it up and had the unmistakable smell of coolant burning off. No smoke though. Took it for a 20 min drive and then took these photos when I got home. Any idea what component is leaking?

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...3db21cf62f.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...0ab9750d08.jpg

Really can't make even a WAG from the pics. You need to get the car in the air and with the engine running from underneath the car look for leak sign with a bright flashlight. Be careful hot coolant doesn't drip on you.

You need to follow any leak trails all the way up.

As someone has already mentioned, there's the oil/water heat exchanger. Never had this leak with my Boxster but it has leaked in other cars.

My Boxster leaked from the water pump, but the noise clued me in that it was bad. Once I looked closely I could see some leak sign but no coolant was (yet) hitting the ground.

Another leak source was the coolant tank. This was leaking -- leaving a trail of coolant as I backed the car into a parking space -- with a hot engine, hot enough the radiator fans were running. I thought at first it was from a radiator.

But I got the engine hotter by raising RPMs and the next time the radiator fans came on I shut off the engine. The heat soak from the hot engine increased coolant temperature and pressure and under these conditions the tank opened up at a split along the seam mold along the bottom of the tank and as I viewed the car from the passenger side a small drip of coolant around/behind the passenger rear tire turned into a gush of hot coolant.

I let the car cool overnight and the next morning refilled the coolant tank with distilled water -- at least a gallon -- and started the engine. There was no leak and I drove teh car several miles to the local dealer and it was still free of any leak sign when I left it to have the tank replaced.

My Boxster radiators never leaked but my Turbo radiators developed leaks where the bottom "tank" joins (via a crimp I think) the core.

'course, there are hoses galore and any hose connection can leak. A hose can fail. These tend to fail at the bottom of the hose and close to where the hose connects. Grasp the hose with your finger tips pressing along the bottom of the hose and squeeze trying to push your finger tips into/through the hose. Exceptionally soft areas are a sign the hose is bad. (But it may not be leaking.) The hoses on my 2002 Boxster and 2003 Turbo were all original and in good shape. The car never sat for any length of time and I had the coolant replaced every 4 years or so. Regular use and "fresh" coolant goes a long way to preserving coolant hoses.