When I took my 99 Nissan Almera in for a pre inspection check and they put it up on the lift one thing we saw was a redish fluid leak from the steering column area.
They indicated to me that it was serious and a big job to repair.
Could anyone clue me in to what might be the problem?
Here are two pictures. This first one just shows the power steering reservoir ( passenger side - filled to about maybe 1/4 inch from the top ) and the hose where I saw the leak from the top. I tried to outline in red:
Here is the same hose from underneath. I circled a big drop of red fluid hanging on the hose, and also the screw on the clamp holding the hose to whatever it's connecting to in the back of the engine has red fluid on it:
EDIT
I found the following on an almera owners club site:
Common problems/What to look for when buying your Almera
Power steering fluid leak: If your power steering is running low, or you find a leak on your drive that isn’t oil, chances are it’s the power steering fluid leaking, something that seems to be a common fault on N15’s.
The leak occurs on the offside where the front metal cooling pipe meets the rubber flexi pipe, and just needs the broken bit shortening and a new clip (jubilee etc) sticking on! Job done.