[depman160]

This may sound dumb to some of you, but does my 1992 2000Z have power steering?

It has a 5.0L Mercruiser with the Alpha 1....

The reason I ask is that all summer, my steering wheel seemed hard to turn. I looked under the dash and was checking out the gear where the steering wheel and the corresponding bar that attaches to the steering cable meet and things looked good and were visibly well greased.

I pretty much just accepted the steering to be not so smooth, but then one day I was having what I found out was a starter problem.
With my limited mechanical competencies, I was basically in the engine checking to make sure all hoses and wires and everything were connected and things were generally in place.

While facing the stern of my boat, looking at the engine, I noticed a small reservoir that is located right near the main belt drive and checked to see if the cap was on tight.

When I opened it, there was a milky pink liquid inside and I noticed that the dipstick was reading a little low.....

So, my question is....is that liquid in that reservoir power steering fluid? If so, then hopefully I can add some and things will be fine.

I had asked someone at the marina and they said they would check it when they fixed the starter, but the starter didn't get finished until a few days before I was ready to haul out for winter and I never thought to check the fluid to see if they added any.

A short ride from the marina to the launch seemed to be the normal steering I had expreienced all summer, so I assumed nothing was done.

Just hoping that its a simple fix and not some major issue that is going to cause the steering cables to be replaced or something.

Thanks,
Patrick

[Dredd]

This is what a power steering pump looks like.
If the fluid is milky then it's got water in it and the system needs purged, at least.

[depman160]

Yep, that's the part I was talking about.
As for the milky part, I will have to check it out again in the spring....might have just been my imagination, but thanks for the help.

Hopefully its just a case of the fluid being low, and not an issue of having to drain it and refill it.

Can anyone explain how to drain the fluid and replace it in case I need to do so?

I am trying to learn as much as I can about my boat and its systems so that I can quit being bent over the barrel by the $65/hr. labor fee at the marina.

I want to learn to winterize and dewinterize my motor and outdrive and change oil and fluids. I know many of my questions are addressed elsewhere in the forums, and have already read and printed many of them.
Thanks again!