Should this happen to a 2003 Toyota Camry already??? I woke up this
morning to find all my power steering fluid had leaked out onto the
ground. I didn't realize this until I drove a 1/4 down the road and all
of a sudden I had no power steering. I immediately went home, opened
the hood and found no power steering fluid, PLUS a belt completely off.
The belt is has grooves on one side and is about 5-6 feet in
diameter.... what is this? How did it come off?

Wow, I completely baffled. This is actually my mothers car who is 73
years old. What if this happened on a dark lonely street with no one
around. I trusted Toyota.... now?

Anyway, can anyone give advise as what to do. Do I need a tow to the
dealer? What can I expect to pay for repairs? I read somewhere where
there has been a problem with a copper nut or screw that has caused
this leakage... if so, will this be a free repair?

The car has only 36,0000 miles!!!!

Thanks!

WOW, I just have to add this..... is this a recall problem??? I just
went for a walk where I just drove this morning. I thought I had heard
something when I went for my 1/4 drive this morning. Well, get this, I
found a round metal piece, about 4 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick
on the side of the road!!!! It has the same groves as the belt I lost
has. It looks like it had broken off somewhere in the middle.

I have LOST ALL CONFIDENCE WITH TOYOTA!!! I knew I should have bought a
Honda!

EDIT: The belt that had fallen off is 3 feet in diameter, NOT 5-6 feet.

have it towed to the dealer. it might still be under warranty (3 years
or 36000 miles) the power steering pump may have seighted up causing the
belt to break. if this is the case should be covered under warranty.
either way you have to have it fixed.

after reading your second post sounds like the part you found is the
pulley for the power steering pump. this should be covered under your 3-
36 warranty

"nelslynn" <lstott@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1136141773.320804.248790@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
Haul your fucking Honda troll ass out of this newsgroup.

I guess I'm out of luck as the car is two months out of warranty. I'm
really disturbed this has happened!!! I have a 1988 Honda Prelude that
hasn't had any issues like this. I was expecting the same from
Toyota... guess I was dreaming.

Anyway, how much should I expect for repairs? What needs to be done?
Leak fixed plus place whatever fell off? Time involved? Should I go to
a Toyota dealership?

Try going to the dealer. Even though it's two months out of warranty, you
have a failure that is fairly unique, and if you present your case to the
service manager without an attitude they may very well cover it under the
goodwill warranty policy.

"qslim" <Suckers@suckersdotcom> wrote in message
news:d70a0b07eaccd4379808c2b6828f1923@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
He's already showing LOTS of attitude. Typical Honda rice burner attitude.

Dude, grow up! Contribute something useful or don't bother.

Things this size are not suppose to just fall off your car. I'd just
like to warn people that this could be serious if it happens driving a
high speeds. Your power steering goes out in a second! If this happens
to someone without the reflexes of others, this could be deadly. And,
as found here: http://yotarepair.com/Suspension.html this is a known
problem but not a recall problem.... even more disturbing.

Get a life and get a horse if you are that worried about breaking down.
Nobody cares about your stupid crap, because cars are machines and
machines break ocasionaly. Wlk your to fat anyway

How often should I change this?

Thanks

aiuser wrote:
By the way, its a 2000 Camry V6.

I dont know if the manual says ever, I sucked mine out with a meat
baister at 70000m , it was black. Many models use ATF fluid, look on the
cap for your correct fluid.

aiuser wrote:
Call your dealer and get the price for a new steering rack (installed)
then decide.
Pump and rack seals, - fluid seals generally, last longer with cleaner
fluid.
A battery bulb, for a few dollars, makes changing the fluid in the
reservoir simple and quick.
You won't get it all that way, but if you change it at oil change
intervals a few times you'll see a noticeable improvement in the
appearance of the fluid.

On 4 Jun 2006 05:33:08 -0700, "aiuser" <tsiu2k@yahoo.ca> wrote:

FYI:

I changed the PS fluid in my 94 Camry V6 for the first time in 2002 (95k miles),
using Valvoline ATF. Within 4 months, the pump and both sides of the rack were
leaking fluid. I replaced them both with new $factory$ parts, and used Pentosin
CHF 11S, synthetic PS fluid (green can), available at VW, Porsche and Volvo
dealers. Hasn't leaked a drop since.

According to my car manual (91 4 cyl), the fluid should be dextron II.
Should I stick with ATF or switch to PS fluid, like Jim suggested? How can
I tell which PS fluid is right for my car besides Dextron? I read some
descussion about this issue before, but I have never got a final answer.

"bauz" <b_nospam@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:60f935aad388604d4348ae610c12e20c@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
If the manufacturer says ATF, then it is probably okay.
GM stopped using ATF a long time ago in the common applications I know of.

Unfortunately, long ago and before I learned of this, I used ATF in my Buick
Regal.
Failure ensued rather quickly.

On Sun, 04 Jun 2006 17:40:20 -0400, "bauz"
<b_nospam@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote:

My '92 was leaking. I went looking for Dextron II ATF. I was told at
the shop that what's being sold as just plain old power steering fluid
is the same thing. There are just a couple of manufacturers like Volvo
that use a mineral oil based stuff. I got some that was supposed to
stop leaks and lube the seals. It worked great. No more leaks.