BAWC Forums

So 5 minutes ago my car dropped a 4ws oil warning on me. Could I drive it home without risk (30miles) ?
And where is the filler cap? Just so I have everything sorted when I get home.

I would not. Not 30 miles at least. Have you looked under your car to see where the leak is? How bad? The reservoir is on the drivers side closer to the cab area if you want to see how much you lost.

My lines went last summer and I went through most of the reservoir just driving it home 2 blocks. Just one line went, but everytime I turned it sprayed out the busted line. You don't want to risk running your pumps dry.

I have a thread in automotive about my experience. I wouldn't be surprised if your lines gave in a similar place.

It's the same reservoir as your main steering.

You can drive the car without power steering, but you run the risk of burning up the pumps if you run it dry.

If you can somehow disconnect the power steering pump belt, you can get it home. Just be aware it'll be tough to turn the wheel at low speeds.

Bluemax_1 on 3si said that our steering system used ATF.

ATF = automatic Transmission Fluid?

[quote=""G3ML1NGZ""]
ATF = automatic Transmission Fluid?[/quote]


yes

Thanks VR4.
Hmm, the reservoir was full, drove home and then it was still full. Light went off after a minutes drive. Weird.

Was it extremely cold this morning over there? Could have taken a while for fluid to properly reach everything, especially if the car had been sitting for a bit.

Well it's snowing Thanks for the help guys, I'll be looking out for this and if it persists I'll look better into it

Whenever my car has been sitting in the cold (I'd consider cold to be < 20 degrees F) for more than a couple hours, my 4WS oil light comes on for the first couple minutes, or less, of driving. It doesn't seem to be a big deal, but I usually let the car idle for about 10 minutes on cold starts before going anywhere, and on those occasions it's almost always off by the time I come back to the car.

- Kyle

Jesus, you can get PS fluid from any gas station... It's only a couple bucks at the most. For crying out loud, if it's low, top it off with SOMETHING.

[quote=""Monochrome""]Jesus, you can get PS fluid from any gas station... It's only a couple bucks at the most. For crying out loud, if it's low, top it off with SOMETHING.[/quote]

He said it wasn't low...

There's a bubble in the system.

Then I'm Flushing the system when I get home. I started the car this morning (inside a warm garage) and the light was there but the reservoir was full. Will get back to you once I flush it.

Do you have the service manuals?
Bleeding the 4ws isn't all that easy. (to do it properly)