I recently had a strange problem with my power steering. after driving on a short highway trip (40 miles) with no aparent problem, the next morning went to start car to warm it up on a cold morning (8 degrees). almost immeediately I heard some faint squeaking and the steering wheel seemed to be locked up.

I shut off engine and looked underneath vehicle to see large puddle of PS fluid. It appears that most of the fluid was ejected through the cap on the reservoir. the steering wheel is extremely tight but can be turned. no visible damage to undercairrage or steering components.

I have never experienced this type of PSproblem. any help ideas??

 

I have an off the wall theory; What if, you had some water in the PS system that pooled say at the bottom of a hose (or somewhere), and in the extreme cold (I assume you're talking farenheight not celsius?) this water froze thus blocking the PS system? This might result in an excessive pressure rise and fluid being ejected?????

 

Try refilling the PS Fluid reservoir then look under the hood while someone turns the wheel. If there is a leak, it will be obvious. Stand back so you don't get squirted. If a PS hose sprung a leak it could easily have ejected all of the fluid at once. PS is a high pressure system. A hose could have sprung a leak right before you shut the car off so you didn't notice anything.

Oh and if you have to, you can drivethe car just fine without power steering. It will just be hard to turn the wheel when stopped. But it is not that hard to turn the wheel when you are rolling. I drove my 91 Mustang without power steering for several months when I was in college.

 

I will try refilling the PS fluid tonight. How important is it to use only Honda fluid?

I know what you're saying about driving without the power assist, but in this case there must be some interference of some kind because it is even hard hard to turn the steering wheel with the front end on jack stands.

 

it is VERY important to use only honda fluid (or fluid designed for honda cars)
my last owner didnt use honda fluid and it caused the pump to spring a leak.

 

i've had a new crv(at the time, 05) that had a ps leak. the owner put something in it, and it deteriorated the entire ps. system. we installed an entire ps system because it(gear box seals, hoses swollen, ps pump leaking...yuck). it was a michigan street security trunk, lol.