Power steering leak. This seems weird to me...

[Jeffha4]

So I bought a 2012 avant a couple weeks ago, and just a day or two ago I went to drive the car, and I heard the whine of a power steering pump low on fluid.

So I get home, and I see there's a puddle where I usually park the car. I search around, find nothing very obvious and leave it for the next day. I drove my S4, as the PS fluid was way low, and picked up some CHF 202 on my way home from work. Topped it up, and the whine was gone. But I pulled it into the driveway and onto some ramps to check it out.

So I pull off the belly pan, and find that the boot from the steering rack has a 'hole' in it, and fluid is just pouring out of it. It appears to be a slice, but it's tucked way up under the belly pan. There's no way anything could have hit it to cause it.

So my questions are... Is there supposed to be fluid in the boot at all? Do I have a bad seal on the steering rack that's allowing fluid into the boot and leaking out, or is this normal? Besides the leak, it seems to be operating fine.

The car is still under warranty. So lets say the boot is the only thing wrong - would that be covered under warranty? Or is that considered a wear part?

If there's a seal in the steering rack that's bad, then obviously it's covered. I just don't want to go to the dealer and pay a stack to have them tell me it's not covered...

[jfo]

It sounds like a leaking seal in the rack. The boot should not contain fluid.

[Jeffha4]

It sounds like a leaking seal in the rack. The boot should not contain fluid.

That's what I was thinking, I thought it very odd that fluid was coming from there. But these newfangled systems, how was I to know for sure? Thanks for the reply. I've already got an appt to get it fixed, so that's good news.