I changed the oil in our '02 Outback today (it's amazing how warm 35 can feel after the kind of temps we have had for the past month). While under the car I notice the right front control arm is wet with something other than water. First thing I think of is brake hose, second is CV boot. I little more research with the flashlight shows the right side of the plastic splash shield is also wet with an oily substance. Up top, the inner fender is wet under the power steering reservoir. The reservoir itself appears to be oily all over its outer surface (including the yellow cap) and the ends of both hoses are wet (only about an inch of the hose where connected to the reservoir). The hose clamps are in place and the fluid is just shy of the full mark. Is the reservoir bottle itself cracked? The hoses are dry the rest of the way down (to the rack?) that I can see from up top. I am hoping things don't get worse and it can wait until Friday when I am off and can take it into Morries (I don't really feel like tearing it apart and finding I need some proprietary part and have to wait until Monday to get it...plus 35 isn't all that warm after being out in it for awhile). Any ideas?
The spring clamps on the reservoir are probably losing tension. Remove the hoses replace the spring clamps with worm drive clamps. Fill the reservoir back up, degrease the area and watch for a few days
Dealer tech determined hardened o-rings where the low pressure line from the reservoir connects to the power steering pump (if the communication between the tech & service writer and the service writer & me was totally coherent). Apparently the fluid was traveling back/down to the reservoir via the hose. Guess I didn't thoroughly check the underside of the hoses as they looked dry from the top. Replaced o-rings and flushed the PS system.
