2000 Toyota Avalon XL- Power steering leaks twice in two years?

Hey, so I have just about zero experience with cars outside of oil changes and recharging a/cs. About two years ago I took my car in for an inspection, and the results came back that the power steering had a leak and because of the nature of the part the whole she-bang had to be replace (about 750$ total). Worked great, no problems.

About six months ago, the power steering pump started to get real loud. Turned out there was a leak, but so long as the fluid is topped off there's not performance issues.

I guess I'm wondering if there's anything I could be doing to contribute to this? Some sort of driving style? Or is it just bad luck? I will be returning to the place that did the original job to see if it's still covered (I've been in a different state since then) or if they can cut me a deal, because I will have to get the inspection re-done since it's expired.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

More details:

Initial leak was in the return portion of the power steering, iirc.

Not sure where the current leak is located.

Got the power steering fluid topped off this last week after an oil change (allegedly), but the pump is still making noise which is unusual. I need to visually inspect that to make sure they did in fact top it off.

Like I said, no performance issues except for a couple times when I have to turn all the way to one side or another and it can feel a little clunky, but still fully functional.

Posted Apr 13, 2013, 10:24 PM UTC

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