Hello All,

I am a bit puzzled with this problem. Hope someone can provide some pointers before I bring it to a mechanic to diagnose. Power steering fluid was leaking badly from the cap and still is. Here is what I've done so far:

1. Checked for leaks and only leak was coming from cap.
2. Replaced Cap, still leaking.
3. Since this is typically indicative of air in the power steering system, I jacked up the jeep and did the air bleed process, i.e. take cap off, fill reservoir, and then turned the wheel back and forth 20 times, refilled, and repeated. Turned the vehicle on, and repeated the wheel turning process, refilling. I noticed that the power steering fluid NEVER stopped jumping out of the reservoir. Even after an hour of turning the wheel to bleed the system. The fluid kept jumping out of the resovioe violently.
4. Now I"m thinking I am getting air into the system somewhere else, so I run some power steering repair oil(sealant) in to the system. Repeat #3 but the problem still occurs.
5. So now I'm desperate...so I replace the power steering high and lower pressure lines hoping maybe there is a slight air leak in one of the hose, I replace, ensuring no leaks...Problem is still occurring, i.e. fluid leaking from cap.

At this point I'm at a loss....is there anything else I should look for or do? The power steering fluid is still leaking from the cap after driving.

 

Is it possible that you're overfilling the reservoir? The fluid level rises when hot (hence the Hot and Cold level markers on the cap dipstick), so maybe it's pushing the fluid past the cap because there's nowhere else for it to go.

 

And you have to remember too that when the engine is running and that power steering pump pulley is spinning... you've got super high PSI in that system so any weak link could cause serious issues.
going off of what PatHenry said... you might try taking out as much of the fluid in the reservoir, then carefully replacing it with new fluid, with the engine completely cold. And make sure the level is refilled to the correct "cold" level on the cap dipstick. Then watch it from there to see if that resolves it.

You definitely want to start there.... not just because it's the cheapest and logical path.... but rebuilt/reman power steering pumps are just as hit or miss as reman steering gears. They are mostly crap.
I had to replace mine twice before I got one that was rebuilt correctly.

just try those steps and let us know the results. And we'll go from there for ya.

 

You guys won't believe what the problem was. The bolts holding the powersteering pump as well as the bolt holding the tensioner screw in place were night fully tightened down. I had noticed earlier that the powersteering pumped and fluid resovior was vibrating badly but thought it was air causing the problem. Well I tightened all of those bolts and BAM problem went away. No more leaking from the cap area.

 

Those are fun to get at... have to line up the holes in the pulley to get the extension through it to them. i just had mine off recently to do the water pump.

 

Or even better, when there are no holes in the pulley... I had to replace the belt tensioner on my 95 and ended up in what probably was a pretty comedic display of my dad on top feeding the screw down with the magnetic wand while I was underneath trying to start the bolt in by hand. It took about 15 tries until I finally got it in and could get the wrench on it.

Glad to hear you figured it out!!

 

I have a question:
I have a 2002 4.7 V8 WJ
Due to my stupidity I have to replace the power steering reservoir.
I cannot remember how the plastic sleeve and O-ring is positioned between the pump and reservoir.
Can anybody direct me in the right direction please?
Had no luck to find any info online so far
Thank You in advance