Power Steering Fluid problems of the 2008 Acura TSX

The contact owns a 2008 Acura Tsx. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to complete a turn, an abnormal amount of effort was needed to turn the steering wheel. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed that the power steering fluid was abnormally low. Upon refilling the power steering fluid reservoir, the contact observed a leak in the power steering hose. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 198,231.

While driving I noticed my car completely lost all of its power steering in one shot without warning. This leads to very stiff driving experience and when I brought it too the mechanic he said it would be a substantial amount of money to fix, because of this I googled and noticed many other Acura Tsx's have this issue. I applied power steering fluid in hope of that helping out but it just leaked out.

Had the power steering hose recall done in 2014 (recall number sb10-010). Now in 2017 came out to drive car and found all power steering fluid leaked and car had no power steering when trying to drive it. Car drove and power steering was perfectly fine the day before. Also just had a multi point inspection 4 months prior at Acura dealership which found no issues with power steering.

Was traveling on the highway at around 65 mph when the car steering felt a bit rough, upon arrival at my job's parking lot I lost complete power steering. Upon a quick inspection later that day I noticed the rack and pinion was leaking, I tried to add more fluid just to make it home but the leak was so quick that I lost complete power steering when trying to exit my parking space after just having top'd off the fluid. The safety concern is due to the loss of power steering aid when the car is in motion at low speeds as this will make turning difficult due to the low speed, this may be sudden as experienced from the quick ps fluid loss. Many other people have reported the same issue and Acura's service bulletin 10-025 addresses a power steering rack squeak due a deformed seal in the steering rack. However the bigger concern is due to the lost of vehicle control from loss of fluid. Furthermore, merely letting the car idle when there has suffered a noticeable power steering fluid loss may cause damage to the steering pump as the lack of such fluid starves the pump of lubing medium. The quote to repair such damage is estimated at around 2200+ 1000+ for steering rack and 1000+ for labor.

The power steering pump started making a faint whine while driving. Pulled off at an auto parts shop 1 mile down the road to refill the fluid. While sitting there idling the fluid leak all out the steering rack and required towed to have rack replaced. Acura knows this is an issue and only offered a discount on the part but $1000 labor was to come out of my pocket. I would have lost steering ability. This would not be the same as just losing the pump's help.