The power steering reservoir on many vehicles, BMW, Porsche, MINI and others, that contain an internal filter. These filters tend to get clogged and can starve the pump of fluid, causing the bearing to seize — leading to pump failure and a loss of power steering. If the pump is driven by a serpentine belt, that could also shred. Plus, you’re probably going to end up with metal shavings into the fluid that will cause the rack to fail as well.

Unfortunately, the filter in the power steering reservoir can’t be replaced individually. So you’ll need to swap in a whole new reservoir. We currently stock replacement reservoirs for BMW & MINI applications. The good news is that the part is inexpensive compared to a pump or rack failing and replacing it will give you peace of mind that particles and contaminates from an old filter aren’t going clog up and cause a failure on that new pump.

We highly recommend that after any power steering repair you do a refill with our Pentosin ATF1 or CHF-11S hydraulic fluids…or other OE-approved fluid recommended by your owner’s manual. As for our Rein Automotive Power Steering Reservoir and hoses, we’ll put the part numbers up on the screen for you. These Rein reservoirs are made with virgin plastic and have no regrind so they’re going to withstand heat better than some of the other products out there in the market. We also offer the MagnaXFilter from AAE, which is an in-line filter you can put in the return hose. The filter contains a magnet that will remove metal shavings from the fluid and works great for vehicles where there’s no filter in the system or for those of you who just want the peace of mind that comes with having an extra filter.

For more information about these parts visit www.showmetheparts.com/crp or www.crpautomotive.com