Broken Power Steering Cap? 2004 XC70 Safe To Drive?

TroutJim · Post by **TroutJim** » 04 Jun 2025, 06:48

Checked the power steering fluid last night and went to screw the cap back on and it wouldn’t seat. I looked at cap and picture of new one and I could see parts were missing. Got a magnetized screwdriver and fished a spring, a small metal cap, and another cap with flanges out of the reservoir.

Picture online shows the flanged cup goes on first, the small cap is embedded in a spring, and a compressed spring. I tried to reassemble, but could not see what retains the compressed spring. Have a new cap on order.

My questions are - could there be more parts in the reservoir that may get sucked into the PS pump? What hold the spring in place? Is there a filter in the reservoir that would prevent parts from getting sucked into? If I take a heavy piece of plastic and heavy duty rubber bands, can I seal the cap hole and drive the car while I am waiting for the new cap?

Post by **br0dy519** » 04 Jun 2025, 12:03

This is a good time to update your reservoir to the 2005+ version as the 2004 and below begin to seep at the plastic seams. It just requires a little re-routing of the return hose (plenty of hose to work with).

The snorkel on the inside of the 04 version also has a tendency to break off and cause bad flow.