Found a 36"x 24" oily overnight fluid leak on the driveway under the '04 E350. The van has 87K miles. The size of the puddle appeared to represent a large volume loss. My first reaction was that I was looking at power steering fluid but only a small amount of MercV was needed to replenish the reservoir. All other fluid levels are normal.

PS hoses and pump are dry. Any remaining leak has slowed to one drop or two overnight that drips off the lowest part of the suspension directly underneath the passenger front spring.

Still amazed that a leak that dumped so much so fast has slowed to next to nothing over the last ten days. I did check the cargo area to make sure I wasn't looking at some kind of container spill.

Investigation leads me to think I have a steering gearbox shaft seal replacement to do. Anybody have experience with the job?

 

That's quite a mystery. No suggestions here; just didn't want you to feel alone.
Let us know what you find

 

Thanks for the reply.

Pretty sure this static leak is ps fluid. There is no leak with the truck running while the ps is silent and operates normally. This condition is gonna have to get worse to figure out what is going on here.

I found some direction on other FTE boards with gearbox shaft seal r/r. Other members reported luck with ps stop leak additive. Not a fan of additives. Will report on outcome

 

Can you put some dye in the PS reservoir to verify/eliminate that as the source?

 

Your idea occurred to me. Thank you for the suggestion.

The MercV I added is red (obviously) and the original ps fluid is yellowish. I am waiting for the leak to change color but the drip has not reappeared on clean cardboard.

The fluid leak did appreciable damage to my two year old driveway. Tried to wash the stain away immediately, but the aggregate is crumbling on the surface today.

 

A leak that bad, with no supporting evidence - has me wondering if it was not your vehicle. Maybe a visitor parked there. .... you have to consider all options.

 

Absolutely it was the E350. It was the only thing parked there and the lower passenger front end is still wet at the leak drip point. This van is a service vehicle. It has a truck mounted carpet cleaning plant installed and my first reaction to anything left on the ground is to suspect a waste tank, supply tank, kerosene tank or soap/chemical vessel storage spill. Can't find a culprit. Everything but the front end below the passenger front spring is dry.

I will wind up pulling the tire and cleaning all contaminated areas before I get to the bottom of this.

If a "visitor" wanted to screw around with me and is responsible for this mess... that is one high level of evil genius.

 

Was driving the van yesterday on the CT turnpike and noticed a bounce in the passenger front that was not normal. It was a BIG bounce that continued instead of leveling off immediately.

I'm thinking the passenger front shock has failed. Anybody ever see a shock absorber leak?

 

I've seen quite a few leak

 

Any big ones like what I found?

 

tough to say but....I worked in a shop and quite a few empty shocks came in
it make sense that yours would stop in your case because the amount in the shock isn't that much and it would be gone quickly

 

They do fail.



When I blew this one it didn't leak. When I took it out it was still full. In your case it may have rusted at the bottom and a seal blew on the top, allowing a massive discharge. The PS is at the driver side so I do not think it will leak anything on the passenger's.

 

I am convinced you are correct. My inclination to think PS at first was due to the appearance of the fluid.

Because the leak has stopped completely and since there wasn't a drop in any fluid capacity to match the discharge, your theory makes sense.

I took a quick look at the shocks and the passenger side looks very accessible. The driver side... not so much.

I'll post an update when I get around to replacing the shock absorbers.

 

There's a trick to the driver side front shock-

theres a rubber grommet access hole right about where your left foot rests. Check it out- better access to the top nut on that shock.

 

Thanks for the tip. Found the grommet on my van already. Not often we get a break with access on these E-lines