2000 Honda Accord. Power steering fluid is coming up and out of the reservoir when the car is shut off. I recently had to take the hose off and move it out of the way just to make it easier to replace the belt. Lost some fluid and put more back in. And now this. Also is whining when you turn the steering wheel. What do I do?
I think you may have gotten some air in the power steering system. Or you’ve used the wrong fluid. Or overfilled. The whining is probably related, the pump complaining about the air in the system, but it could also be caused by the belt which drives the power steering pump. Maybe it has gotten some fluid on it.
Edit: I’ll add that this same thing happened to me w/my Ford truck. And I made a huge mess out of it. Got fluid all over the driveway I mean. But it was easily rectified. I got the air out by raising the disconnected hose up in the air and by turning the steering wheel until all the air had been expurged. Done with the engine off.
Hondas take a pretty specific Power Steering fluid. Yes you DID Introduce AIR into the system when you removed this hose. Unless you have leaks associated with the hose removal that are still existing you must now BLEED the air out of your Power Steering system…and fortunately for you…this is easy to do.
Make sure the power steering res is full. START the vehicle…and if you have a jack handy…take some or all of the weight off the front wheels. Not imperative but it is much easier on the system when you do this. NEVER TURN THE STEERING WHEEL ON A HONDA WITHOUT THE ENGINE RUNNING!!! This is important. You need to have the engine running and the system operating under normal conditions when you turn the wheels lock to lock like this.
Now with the car running… Turn your steering wheel Left and Right…LOCK to LOCK…which means as far as the wheel will turn left…and the same for right. This will bleed the system of air…which will lower your power steering fluid level and remove the air from the system. It will also rid your system of that NOISE. The Air is causing the noise and the fluid to bubble out and over.
Until you turn your wheels far left and far right until wheel lock…your system will have Air in it. You may need to top off the reservoir after this procedure so check it when you complete this task. It may take up to 3 cycles of lock to lock to purge all the air. but it works like a charm and is how this is done.
Blackbird
I used DOT 3 fluid. Is that Ok?
Just kidding. I’m a funny guy. I bought fluid specific for a Honda. I’ll do this. Thanks for the help.
I did this and it initially made a big difference. It didn’t eliminate it entirely so I did it again and was about the same. After another time or two it seems to be closer to where it started from. When I shut the car off and go look at the fluid it’s frothy which soon settles out and looks normal. Any thing else. Also is it hurting the steering or is it just an annoying noise. Thanks.
It may take a few tries and actually a few times of rest to let the bubbles “boil out” before doing the lock to lock again… It is working its way out tho…you will be ok in time… Seems to be taking its sweet time to get the air out…but you are well on the way. No this isn’t hurting anything…its just noisy bec its trying to pump Air instead of hydraulic fluid. No other instructions Just bleed it out till she shuts up.
You COULD…lift the front wheels off the ground and do the lock to lock bleed with the engine OFF to prevent the running pump from additionally frothing the fluid a bit too much for a timely bleed procedure. You just cannot do this when the wheels are on the ground and engine off…it can cause many little issues you don’t want to play with I’m sure…
Blackbird
If you continue to get air into the system, it must be entering through a small leak in the pump suction tubing somewhere. Check the suction hose and all connections.