[ulfilias]

Hi There,

By the looks of it, it's something that can happen in a hydraulic power steering situation. I had topped the power steering fluid up because it had gotten low, though that was a few months ago and i'm guessing the leak slowly got bigger until it fully burst and to use the vernacular started p*ssing out!

The pipe has metal ends, but a pressure rated hydraulic hose in between and the split was in that. They have it because of the pulsing vibrations from the hydraulic system. I run a BIG hydraulic press at work and we recently changed from a fixed welded pipe to a flexible one because over years the vibrations crack the pipe. We were welding it every few years and even then the seal wasn't great. I'm guessing this is similar and whilst the hydraulic hose can split over time, it's mean time between failure is much lower and the pipe is a lot easier to fit because of it!

The car is an 2005 so 14 years and with 175,000 miles, so it isn't bad going!

It was still drivable, though VERY heavy, particularly at slow speeds, so you have to compensate and be sensible...run wide, take extra time etc.
Also running a low pump has a chance to run dry and burn it out
However it shouldn't totally strand you if it does happen!