I keep finding fluid on my drive way. It looks like the system is blowing it out the fill cap. Is this a common issue? What do I need to repair to get this working again. I thought at first I had over filled it after flushing the fluid but now its almost empty and making a screeching sound occasionally.

 

There's an O-ring on the filler cap which can shrink over time and allow blowby to leak out, but the reservoir cap isn't under any pressure. If you lost that much fluid, then you have a leak in either the pump or the recirculating ball mechanism where the steering shaft enters. The pump isnt hard to rebuild and Mazdatrix still sells the PS pump rebuild kits, but the steering box os much harder to rebuild. The box comes out from the bottom and has a setup of O-rings inside that can go bad, allowing the high pressure hydraulic fluid to escape. Look for PS fluid running down your firewall and sprayed along the bottom of the drivers side of the car.

Either way, the work to rebuild is moderate in nature, and the pumps are somewhat known for a skimpy C-clip wearing down the front mainshaft bushing which allows for endplay and slop in the pump, allowing PS fluid to spray out the front of the pump. Look for a leak there and belt slippage to go with it, as thats the preferable part to rebuild due to ease of removal.

 

Thanks for the info! The screeching I heard was from a loose belt so I resolved that. I topped off the fluid but over filled it again...its so hard to know when it is full. Now its at the right level, everything is tight. I cleaned up the reservoir and hosed down everything so if I find any more fluid I can track down the source.