Volvo Penta power steering leak

[TolandDental]

Last August I bought an older 2003 Glastron Cuddy with a new Volvo Penta 5.7 engine with @ 15 hours . Last fall when we were having the boat winterized, my mechanic found power steering fluid in the bilge. This spring we checked all the hoses and no leaks until we shut the engine off and power steering fluid started out the top of the power steering pump. My experienced mechanic stated that he had not seen anything like that and would call his mentor to see if he knew what was happening. Not heard from him, even with me texting and voice mail, and it has been three weeks. Does anyone know what is going on? If I need a new pump, I need to take it up with the dealer I bought it from. Thanks!

[DougR]

I never heard of that either, but there are two things I would check, assuming it’s the standard Saginaw pump/reservoir set up:

- Make sure the fluid level isn’t overfilled, the dip stick is on the fill cap.

- you might have a leak in the power steering fluid cooler, which sits below the static water line at rest, and water is forcing its way into the steering fluid.

Depending on the outdrive you have, cooling water">engine cooling water is taken in thru the transom assembly, and runs along the port side of the engine block on its way to the sea water pump. Midway along the block is the location of the power steering cooler, a small black cooler about 7” long with water hoses in and out on each end, and the oil inlet and outlet on top. As the oil is on the return circuit from the steering servo back to the reservoir, there is no oil pressure to speak of.

I suggest removing the oil lines from the cooler and splicing them together. This will allow you to run the engine and see if the problem continues....and you might see water coming out of the now open oil cooler connections.

Wouldn’t hurt to check for water in the fluid reservoir as well.