Power Steering Leak - Torn Boot on Rack

[Timp]

UPDATE: Leak found! See my post on 8-19-2013

Hey guys,

It seems like with every passing winter, everything rubber on the car deteriorates incredibly quickly. I've noticed that my power steering leak has become quite bad. I did as others have suggested here: Degrease and clean all of the hoses, drive around and check it again. So, these are my results with the arrows pointing to where I can see the red fluid forming drops:









Full resolution album here.

First of all, there's nasty caked on grease everywhere in the engine compartment basically from the power steering reservoir and down. The hoses from the reservoir though don't really look like they're leaking - they are a bit shiny with grease, but I don't really know how to determine if it's leaking from the top, and then just trickling down onto where I'm seeing. Any thoughts on how to better detect a leak from the reservoir?

Should all of these hoses just be replaced, or should I start with tightening hose clamps?

Also, here's a random piece of rubber that plopped on the ground while I was removing the reservoir bracket:



Does anyone know where this goes?

Thanks a lot!

[MrSlacker]

TECHNICALLY tightening hose clamp might help. We just did the same thing on a customer's E28 because we could not source a replacement hose in time for the car to go home. However, it will most likely continue to leak. Problem is that rubber hose under that clamp is deteriorating and does not seal properly anymore. Its possible that there are small cracks in rubber as well. My advice is to clean off that area again, tighten clamps and see what happens. However, be ready to buy brand a brand new hose.

[Herr Faust Schinken]

that little rubber thing goes on the bottom of the airbox

[Timp]

Alright, it's been ages since I posted this but I think I found the leak! Or, at least part of it. After cleaning all the hoses down thoroughly, I found that the points where the reservoir connects to the lines are definitely leaking. I've read that it's best to replace the crimp style (I'm pretty sure that's what's there currently) with a screw type.

Any pointers on getting the previous clips and hoses off of the reservoir? Would the reservoir need to be replaced under any circumstances?