Power steering leak

Hey guys,

Driving a 2012 4x4 access cab (manual trans). 90k miles. All stock.

About a week ago I noticed a whining sound when I turned the wheel while parked with truck idling. I can also feel a faint vibration through the steering column at the same time. I refilled the power steering fluid and the issue went away immediately but then noticed it again about 100 miles later (from a start, not while driving). So, the obvious answer is that it's a leak right? Or maybe the fluid is burning off somehow? If it IS a leak, where in the power steering line should I look, since it doesn't seem to be leaking straight out of the reservoir?

Thanks for whatever help you can give.

 

Edit*

Just got under the truck and there's definitely power steering fluid on and in the skid plate so I think I have part of the answer. Could it be a seal that I can tighten myself or best to have a mechanic get the thing up on a lift to check it out for actual ruptures somewhere along the line?

 

It could be a lot of things. Steering rack, hose, pump etc all could be leaking. Your best bet is to take it to a professional.

 

Get a 2nd person. Open the hood. Start engine and turn wheel back and forth. 2nd person watches under the hood while turning to try and spot the leak.

The power steering pump itself can leak. I replaced one on a 2nd gen. It was easy to see the pump was leaking in that case.

 

You also might take a look at the steering rack boots.
Give them a squeeze, see if fluid comes out. It shouldn’t.

This is usually the place I see them start to leak first.

 

It could be leaking at the steering rack itself. If you do a search for that you can find good detail on it here.

 

If the fluid is gone it is a leak. You'll need to examine the lines, pump, reservoir, and so on looking for the leak. It could be anywhere, there is no answer available online, only with your eyes.

 

On my 2013 the high pressure hard line rusted and fluid was leaking from that. Right around 100k miles. Was a pretty cheap fix and I didn’t need a new rack, but yeah there’s a lot of places a power steering system can leak from. No way around trouble shooting to find source of leak