1999 VW Polo 1.6 GL

Try watching whilst somebody turns the sterring against its lock. Then you'll know which leaky bit needs replacing. Don't stick your finger on the leak, it's peversley tempting to do so & feally not good for you.

One thing for certain. The leak has nothing to do with the problem. The prime suspect IMO is the pump. Maybe the belt needs tightening. Hence the aqeaking.

Unless you turned the steering wheel when you looked under the bonnet, the pump pulley could well be turning, as without any input from the s/wheel, the pump is merely pumping oil from the pressure side, straight through the valve chest on the rack, and then back to the inlet side of the pump. The same effect as that of simply connecting the outlet and inlet of the pump with a plain pipe. IOW the pump is not under any load. When you turn the wheel the oil is diverted by the spool valve in the valve chest, to one side of the steering rack, putting the pump under load, as it then has to work against the resistance of the tyres as it tries to turn the wheels. At that point, if the belt is not tight enough, the belt slips on the pump pulley, and usually causes a squeak.

As long as the fluid was only just below the minimum mark, no air should have got into the system, so topping up is good enough. It's only when a system is refilled after maybe a rack replacement etc, that a hydraulic p/s system needs to be purged of air by tuning the steering from lock to lock a few times, with the wheels off the ground. I suggst you check if the belt is slipping under load first, before worrying about the leak. It should be fixed, but if it's only leaking as much as you say, I wouldn't regard it as an urgent job. You could leave it until it was convenient to be fixed, as long as you make sure the reservoir oil level stays between the 'min' and 'max; marks. Mike.

Thanks for the advice Mike I will go and check the car now.