Power steering reservoir leak

I noticed this oil on the hose of the power steering fluid reservoir. The fluid is slightly low too. What do you guys think is leaking?

 

Simple green the area and reassess after a few days, after 16 years rubber and plastic gets brittle so there are several likely suspects

 

Honestly I was about to post the same exact thing but mine is worse. It has trickled down and looks like the radiator fan has blown it all over the place.
Which may be fine for rust prevention (oil coating) but really gets your hands black quick when working on the truck.

I was thinking of throwing a new reservoir at it because it's plastic, and we all know what plastic can do. Deteriorate/age/dry/crack. But Toyota is better about this than other brands; I think they use better quality plastics and rubbers.
And a new reservoir is probably expensive. Maybe $60.
Supposedly the common culprit is at least one of the hoses.
IDK if it's best to ask Toyota parts dept how much for one of those hoses, or trying to jury rig a DIY solution such as cutting a length of generic P/S hose of the right diameter.
Supposedly fuel line will not work and will dissolve because it can't handle P/S fluid.
I use Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF because I heard it' good.

I can't help but notice how weak those clamps use. Other cars usually use tighter looking clamps. IDK if that is causing looseness to create a leak, but from what I have heard, one of the two hoses starts to fail by having pinhole leaks.

Someone said diagnose/narrow down the leak.
Yes. You can clean the shit out of everything with de-greaser and solvent/brake cleaner. And waste up to an hour doing that.
Plus trying to catch it in time before it soaks everything again, by checking it visually and maybe spraying leak detection spray like Gold Bond foot powder spray.
But it sounds much better to throw parts at it.
I mean when's the last time anyone spent money/threw parts at their Tacoma? Never.
It's about time it gets some love.
On top of that, these are rubber hoses. Rubber hoses fail. There is no point biding your time until the last second it fails. When you can just go ahead and replace it now with the mindset of "this vehicle is past 10 years old/100k miles; certain parts are now worn out and have reached the end of their usable life"

I can understand more the need for accurate diagnosis/narrowing things down and ruling things out when it comes to "is the problem this $5k part, or that $5k part" but not a cheap rubber hose

I wonder how secure that cap is, and how it's designed. IDK if other cars have an overflow port built in, but usually if they are overfilled the fluid can come out the top and make a mess. But yours does not look overfilled. And even though Taco's can offroad, it's not like they're doing upside down loops on a hotwheels track, to flip the P/S fluid res upside down/spill fluid.

 

Took me like 10 min to clean the oil off of the hose. It looked like a slow leak because the oil on the hose was dirty from road grime. I will see how it goes.

 

Try repositioning the clamp by turning the clamp say 180 degrees .If hose not to hard might work . Did on my 05 rav4

 

If that is the case Remove & Re-install might even help. Like loosening the hose gently with silicone spray and a pick tool before sliding it back on. Maybe even heating it a bit with a heat gun. Just to sort of refresh and soften the surface, making it a bit pliable to take on a new form rather than stiff and dry in the old position enough to were too light strength of the clamp may allow a leak

 

That too . And if hose is long enough and soft enough even trim enough of hose off clamped portion and reinstall.

 

its just the return line, get a replacement piece of oil hose from a local auto parts store. then while its off do a flush on the system & put in good synthetic ATF like Valvoline MaxLife

 

Op looks like squirt with simple green or citrus degreaser, soak, rinse. Yours sounds like Gunk, soak, rinse, repeat. Even if you replace parts it’s nice to know you’re replacing the right ones, especially if there’s a lead time on the one you really need. If it’s leaking a little then a daily visual should identify the source. Could be just the cap seal, its 15 years old too.

 

took your guys at advice and sprayed mine with brakleen then let dry and sprayed white foot powder (leak detection spray); honestly didn't take long.
Will check tomorrow to hopefully see where fluid starts appearing.

You're right maybe it is the cap seal. It's just an O-ring. And O-rings get old.
Wasn't sure if it sloshes around while driving and comes out the top/cap seal. Hopefully it will give itself away/start to show soon and I catch/notice it in time again before it saturates the whole entire area

 

It’s not that I disagree with the hose as the most likely culprit but tried to think of alternatives. Good luck.

 

just noticed mine doing the same thing the other day when I changed the oil. Going to go back with some more cleaner this weekend and see if I can pinpoint my leak. Definitely coming from around the reservoir somewhere

 

It's probably a slow leak for me because it's not leaking as of now and just drove 1k miles this weekend.