MyOldLS

My wife took the "98 LS400 to get new front brakes, and by the next morning, all the power steeling fluid was on the garage floor. As she was leaving the brake place, the steering was making (new) sounds, and they added fluid and sent her on her way.

I'm wondering what they could have done to cause this, as there had been no known issues with the power steering prior to the brake service.

Not sure how to proceed. Should I fill it up with ATF and try to get it back to the brake shop to make them fess up, or do I tow it to a more qualified Lexus shop?

What do the PS and brakes have in common that they could have fouled up?

Thanks!

jaaa

There is nothing in common with the two. Could be happenstance, and it just started leaking. Fill up the reservoir and find out where it is leaking. Perhaps it will make more sense then.

dicer

This is why you don't go to a goofy place to have a Lexus worked on. I would tow it to a lexus dealer and have them tell you what happened. Or hire some automotive specialist to check it out, you know one of the types that will do pre purchase inspections. If its proven the brake out fit goofed it up, then they should be paying the dealer top dollar to fix it. And this is a good reason why no one works on my cars.

Legender

They are not related and outside of the tie rod from the steering rack extending toward the tire, not even connected. And there is no fluid there.
It could have been coincidence that the PS system started leaking while there, but highly unlikely.
I would get it checked out to see where the leak is and how it might have got started?
And then if you feel the brake place is at fault then get them to cover the repairs.
And what kind of fluid did the brake shop ad? I've seen a few places add standard power steering fluid instead of the required ATF.

MyOldLS

Thanks everyone for the responses. We took it back to the "brake place" today and they can't think of anything they did that could have caused the leak, so today we'll take it to our Lexus mechanic for a second opinion/repair. Maybe it was a coincidence, but we'll see. I should mention that the place that did the brakes isn't some fly by night budget shop, but rather a trusted tire/brake/repair business that we've had a relationship with for many years.

I too thought about the possibility that they used the wrong fluid wham they topped it off, but that doesn't really explain the initial leak. I appreciate learning that the two systems don't really share any parts.

Thanks again.

dicer

It can be a place in business for a 100 years and a good reputation. The problem is the mechanic doing the work could be fresh out of school and know nothing about Lexus, or he / she whats it to come back in and make an easy fix that can be charged for an 8 hour day.

Yamae

There was another gentleman lonnie247 who experienced the same problem recently.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ring-leak.html

There happened two exactly the same problem in 10 days at different places. Just a coincident?
I'm quite interested in finding the real reason why those two happened. There is one common area which is the vacuum line for both units but it may not be related to the leaking P/S oil.

dicer

If I was a crooked mechanic and wanted to make the power steering leak, I would either loosen the bolts holding it first, or maybe it would move enough with them tight and grab the ps reservoir and yank it real good in hopes of getting that little O ring to start leaking. It will be interesting to see where that leak is. So what side was the fluid on the garage floor?

Yamae

So that's the way you think of, dicer.
What I think of is that the distance between the power steering oil line and the FR calliper. Those two are not far away each other and when the calliper is serviced, there may be some possibility that a wrench or some tools hit the oil line and damage it.

dicer

Yamae, its all part of years of mechanics and trouble shooting. Yeah I try to think of all scenarios. And is why I don't ever have my car touched at any shop. I've known lots of mechanics, some you can trust and some you can't. And actually I have seen them goof things up not so much on purpose but by not caring and totally mishandling parts or tools, and getting mad at what ever they are working on and going as fast as they can.
One of many good videos about car service and crooked shops etc.

700bones

All I have to add is to get some of that UV dye from the auto parts store to help you trace the leak if you cannot directly see where it is coming from.

Don't bother going back to the mechanics shop and trying to make them pay for this or that --- they will NEVER admit fault and you will just waste time.

This is why I don't even waste time with shops for even trivial and unpleasant problems --- way too high risk of idiot moron crooks trying to sabotage the car. One *****tard at K*n T*wery's tried to tell me I needed a new ball joint and upper control arm when I went in for balancing --- huh huh sorry buddy I had already inspected that according to FSM when I got the car. Another mechanic returned my toyota pickup to me after a simple brake bleeding proceedure. The &*^%ing pedal went straight to the damn floor!!! No pressure at all!!!! After that I just put speed bleeder valves in everything I own to make that pain in the a$$ proceedure nice and simple.

Forget service shops, you don't want $9/hr meth head monkeys manhandling stuff that has to be done right or else it will kill you!!! Get a Chilton and tools and get crackin!