I am not a mechanical guy but I don't mine tinkering around. I have a power steering fluid leak through, I believe, my pressure lines. Until I could get to fix it, I compensated by keeping the fluid reservoir constantly full. Now, my electrical devices are "browing out" and the car even died. Just in case, I got a new battery installed. The installer noticed my fluid cover was damp and asked why. I told him that I fill it to the brim. He said that I should have been leaving room for expansion when hot, which makes sense but that he had a car in which the alternator got soaked with steering fluid because of a bad pump and shorted out the alternator.
Without subjecting myself to things I don't understand, how can I tell if my alternator is shot, or can I power wash out accumulated fluid and hope for the best?
If it is the alternator, I can see from other posts that its replacement is not something for a novice like me.
Thanks