All good things come to an end though; after a great pub lunch we were on to the roads again, the Bride enjoying the scenery, me playing with the hot hatches & biker boys when the steering started to feel a little notchy; after a few miles I really had to slow the pace as it was clear that I was losing assistance and it was becoming a real handful in the bends.I pulled into the next village and checked the PAS reservoir; as suspected it was empty.
Now, I know that the level was bang on before the trip and that the cap was screwed back on tightly but there was quite a lot of fluid around the top of the reservoir and across onto the ABS block, it was also wet on top of the intercooler where the fluid seems to have dripped down from the reservoir cap. Am I right in thinking that the PAS system vents through the cap if it overpressurizes? Does this point to a problem with the pump? Going to get it on a ramp today to see if anything is obvious like split pressure hoses or (God forbid) steering rack issues but I've got a feeling the pump may have failed as I've heard a faint whine when using some lock (not just full lock) for a while now and losing some assistance when maneuvering between lock to lock quickly; perhaps should have investigated earlier...
Anyway, the day ended with a lift home from a friendly RAC chap with a flat bed truck
