From: "Ramon Plasencia" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: RE: [80] Problems Date sent: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 14:16:19 -0400 Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com > 1. Over the last 3 years I've had a power steering leak, at first I only > had to top it up every 3-4 weeks but now, every 2-3 days. > I took the car to a Toyota garage earlier on but they were unable to > find where the oil was going. > I've checked over and under the car most days and still cant find any > drips or wet spots. Im using approx. 1 liter every month now!!!!!! > Any ideas ??????? Your power steering fluid is going into the engine. That is why you cannot find the leak. Date sent: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 10:28:22 +1100 From: "Michael Farrelly" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: RE: [80] Problems Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com >> "Ramon Plasencia" 1/12/99 5:16:19 >>> > Your power steering fluid is going into the engine. That is why you cannot > find the leak. Ramon, If this is true shouldn't my engine oil level be increasing!!! "I have not noticed it", also I cant detect any red solution in the engine oil. From: "Ramon Plasencia" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: RE: [80] Problems Date sent: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 09:13:58 -0400 Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com > Ramon, If this is true shouldn't my engine oil level be increasing!!! > "I have not noticed it", also I cant detect any red solution in > the engine oil. Hi... Yes, you should at least see an increase in your engine oil volume. We saw many 1FZ engines with the problem you describe back in '93 and '94. If you look at your engine, you will see that the power ateering pump is attached directly to the engine block and driven by a set of gears from the crankshaft. Be very careful with the gears when attempting any repairs by yourself as they are easily damaged (ex. when placed in a vise)and will produce an annoying whining noise when damaged. Then, you will have to replace the three gears as a set, in order to get rid of the noise. If as you state, you cannot find any signs of an external leak, then I guess that thinking that the oil is going into the engine makes a lot of sense. Perhaps my reply comes in a little late, but consider I was asleep (time zone differences)when your mail came in. Hope this will help. Ramon Plasencia 1998 FZJ80 Eibach Springs, Bilstein Shocks Custom Bumpers, Warn and so on... From: "Norm Needham" To: "80s COOL" <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: [80] addendum to power steering fluid loss Date sent: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 11:01:24 +1100 Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com Sorry all; I am now at work and left this thread at home. As someone has noted, the fluid can leak into the engine, but at one litre per month it should be very visible on the dipstick (unless the engine is burning oil). The danger here of course is that the ATF will be diluting the engine oil. If the dilution rate reached say 20%, then bearing lubrication might suffer. Those who drive diesels might note that sometimes there is an interaction of engine oil and PS fluid. Shows up as a darkening of the PS fluid. Cheers * Norm Needham * * Traction 4 / ARB Northside * Sydney, Australia * Trac4@bigpond.com From: "Brian Booth" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: RE: [80] addendum to power steering fluid loss Date sent: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 11:56:47 +1100 Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com Norm, Is the interaction you mention in diesel engines a problem? I have had dark PS fluid for some time. I replaced it but it has retured to dark. Brian Booth, Telstra Research Labs Level 7, 242 Exhibition St, Melbourne Victoria, Australia, 3000 Phone 03 9634 4617 Fax 03 9634 4644 From: "Norm Needham" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: Re: [80] addendum to power steering fluid loss Date sent: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 17:27:14 +1100 Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com From: Brian Booth >Norm, Is the interaction you mention in diesel engines >a problem? > >I have had dark PS fluid for some time. I replaced it >but it has retured to dark. > Brian, Doesn't seem to be. We have never had to rebuild a pump because of this. It seems logical that the fluid should leak from pump to engine. The pump is in an un-pressurised area of the engine (timing case). But we see evidence of engine oil in PS fluid. The volume of interchange seems minimal, just enough to discolour the fluid. Heresay has it that one engine had a hydraulic mishap when the sump overfilled from PS fluid leak. Seems to me that this is pure owner/operator lack of diligence. We all gotta check the oil level sometime! ;-) Cheers * Norm Needham * * Traction 4 / ARB Northside * Sydney, Australia * Trac4@bigpond.com Date sent: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 15:27:27 +1100 From: "Michael Farrelly" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: RE: [80] Problems Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com Greetings all, Just letting you know my problem with mysterious Power steering leak has been found and fixed.... It was seeping through a seal in the PS pump and into the engine.... Price was only $244 (oz) for the kit, oil and labor.. Thanks for those who replied to my first message... Mick.... From: "Norm Needham" To: "80sCOOL" <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: Re: [80] Problems Date sent: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 20:27:45 +1100 Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com From: Michael Farrelly > Greetings all, > Just letting you know my problem with mysterious Power steering leak has > been found and fixed.... > It was seeping through a seal in the PS pump and into the engine.... > Price was only $244 (oz) for the kit, oil and labor.. > Thanks for those who replied to my first message... Thanks Mick, You mentioned in your original posts that you were putting roughly one litre per month in the power steering? My curiosity has the better of me. To how many kilometres does one month translate? "Why do I ask?".....I here you ask? Well...if you do lotsa kilometres, then regular oil changes might mask the rising tide on the dipstick. If you don't, the engine oil would have been severely diluted by PS fluid, and the tide should have been high. Also, if you do low kilometres, and the tide stayed normal, then the engine may be burning some oil. Might be worth keeping an eye on the level for a while. Cheers * Norm Needham * * Traction4 / ARB Northside * Sydney, Australia * Trac4@bigpond.com Date sent: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 10:31:15 +1100 From: "Michael Farrelly" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: Re: [80] Problems Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com "Norm Needham" wrote: > Thanks Mick, > You mentioned in your original posts that you were putting roughly one > litre per month in the power steering? My curiosity has the better of > me. To how many kilometres does one month translate? > "Why do I ask?".....I here you ask? > Well...if you do lotsa kilometres, then regular oil changes might mask > the rising tide on the dipstick. If you don't, the engine oil would have > been severely diluted by PS fluid, and the tide should have been high. > Also, if you do low kilometres, and the tide stayed normal, then the > engine may be burning some oil. Might be worth keeping an eye on the > level for a while. Norm, Iv been doing around 500-600 k's a week and the last time a changed the engine oil was about 3 months ago. In that time a used about 3 Ltrs of steering fluid, I must have burnt most of the PS fluid off because surprisingly the dip stick wasn't rising.. I have since replaced the engine oil and it was rather redish... Mick. From: "Norm Needham" To: <80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com> Subject: Re: [80] Problems Date sent: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 12:04:27 +1100 Send reply to: 80_series@sgiblab.sgi.com From: Michael Farrelly > Norm, > Iv been doing around 500-600 k's a week and the last time a changed the > engine oil was about 3 months ago. > In that time a used about 3 Ltrs of steering fluid, I must have burnt > most of the PS fluid off because surprisingly the dip stick wasn't > rising.. > I have since replaced the engine oil and it was rather redish... Hmm....if it was redish, that might indicate a good proportion of PS fluid (Dexron, I presume?). Probably has done no harm, but it means that the PS fluid was NOT burnt off...at least not exclusively. Keep an eye on the level. Perhaps the "thinning" of the engine oil by the Dexron caused it to burn some. Cheers * Norm Needham * * Traction4 / ARB Northside * Sydney, Australia * Trac4@bigpond.com