I went on a road trip this spring break to Glacier National park. I bombed down some pretty rough trails (not in the park obviously) and probably plowed snow with the underside of my car a few times, but I donÂ’t think it was unreasonably hard on the 4runner.

IÂ’m now driving back to my school and at an overnight stop I noticed my power steering pump was behaving strangely. When IÂ’d turn the wheel the power steering pump would whine. This whine is the same one I heard after I flushed the power steering and just like then there were bubbles coming up in the power steering fluid.

The dex III in the pump is still clean, the fluid level does looks to be on the lower side but I donÂ’t think itÂ’s changed since I did it. Are there any common leak points in the power steering system?

Do these symptoms rule out the steering rack?

Power steering cooler line? On the 2010 it's in front of the a/c condenser near the bottom. I tore mine off on the trail which left me stranded after the pump seized almost immediately afterwards. Actually couldn't even turn over my engine. Had to walk like three miles to the highest point just to get a good enough signal to call 911 (middle of Arkansas forest nowhere)! Talk about embarrassing! I relocated it higher up.. on each end of the cooler line are rubber hoses that hang down pretty far, it's retarded. I would bet your leak is there.

Does the third gen have a cooler line in the same place as a 2010? Wait, this is power steering not AC

Yeah its scary getting stranded. When I got stuck I had nothing to recover myself with, not even a shovel. I had only 32 oz of water. I had the cheapest sleeping bag so when the temperature dropped to 10 I was wearing 3 layers of heavy winter clothing and using kerosene hand warmers just to not feel cold. I walked 4 miles down trail to a road the next day, I’m really glad I packed a paper map sense there was no cell signal.

3rd gens don’t have a power steering cooler.

3rd gens don’t have a power steering cooler.

Is your pump or reservoir wet? Do you see any sign of power steering leaks?

Common places to leak are the inner tie rod seals which are covered by the inner tie rod boots so you won’t really see it, the power steering hard lines can corrode and lose fluid but they make a big mess, and the o ring between the power steering pump and the reservoir. You could have bubbles in the fluid because you are that low on fluid, a bad seal in the pump allowing it to suck air in (not likely usually it leaks rather than sucks air), or it could be a bad reservoir o ring (but those usually leak as well).

No cooler line then go with bad luck he's always making sure my information is legit 😘
Hey bad luck look at the stop lamp post I've been trying to help this youngster figure out. Check up on my information see if this guy really needs a new abs actuator module.

Haha I love it! Same here I woke up the next morning nearly frozen to death. I reckon I should have setup camp and started a fire but I figured I would be warm enough. Nope. I continue to go solo anyways👽

If it’s not a 3rd gen I don’t know much about it lol

Well fine! If you know one you got the jist of em all. I guess working on these newer gens takes some electrical and networking learnin. That's why you always catch me answering 3rd generation questions. That sh1t is easy without all the entanglement

Something you've yet to demonstrate.

You did clean the reservoir filter when you did the PS service right?

Next time saw or cut the PS belt off if the pump seizes up (or is it a serpentine on those new-fangled things?). Actually I shouldn't even mention your modern oddity here in 3rd Gen land....

Yes sir it's serpentine. Kind of need that. I'm a judgement free zone mention whatever you please! It won't happen again I moved the cooler line further up 🦊🦉

It got me home yesterday. Before I left I bought dex 3 and tried topping it off, a quick test in the parking lot seems to indicate that it just needed more fluid. I don't think the fluid ever was far above the minimum level.

I did not clean the reservoir filter out when I flushed it. Instead I poured new fluid into the reservoir as someone turned the wheels, I disconnected the return line and had it drain it into a bucket. The old fluid was dirty.

I cant find any sign of it leaking, if it is its not obvious. No puddles under the vehicle. The 4runner is dirty from its trip, so I haven't felt like crawling under it.

i agree and timmy does a video on it.....get a spare o ring before taking apart