Steering Fluid level decreasing - Intrepid

I noticed my 99 Intrepid's steering fluid level has decreased a
bit, almost centimeter below the Min line. I"m thinking I should
have this checked out while my car is still under service
contract for the next few weeks.

Is this a common problem for LH cars? Is there a common cause?

I had the steering fluid changed by dealer at whatever the
recommended interval was. I recall that according to the TSBs
the fluid has changed twice(!) since my car was built. The
latest change was to use ATF-4 (9602) fluid. I also recall that
this fluid requires the old fluid to be completely replaced. I'd
have to find my receipt to figure out what the dealer used. My
99 Intrepid 3.2L has about 50,000 miles.

Greg Houston wrote:
> I noticed my 99 Intrepid's steering fluid level has decreased a
> bit, almost centimeter below the Min line. I"m thinking I should
> have this checked out while my car is still under service
> contract for the next few weeks.
>
> Is this a common problem for LH cars? Is there a common cause?
>
> I had the steering fluid changed by dealer at whatever the
> recommended interval was.

Every 30k according to Schedule B.

> I recall that according to the TSBs
> the fluid has changed twice(!) since my car was built

> The
> latest change was to use ATF-4 (9602) fluid. I also recall that
> this fluid requires the old fluid to be completely replaced. I'd
> have to find my receipt to figure out what the dealer used. My
> 99 Intrepid 3.2L has about 50,000 miles.

Based on my ownership of a '99 Concorde and several years of reading
LH-specific forums, I would have to say that loss of p.s. fluid is not a
common problem - in fact I don't recall seeing a single post on that
problem (not to say that some haven't been posted).

Did you confirm that it was to the full mark when it was last changed?
Perhaps it wasn't.

Mention it to them and have the fact that you mentioned it documented in
the paper work. That way you have a better chance of them covering it
after the service contract expires if you should be able to prove to
yourself in the meantime that it is steadily losing fluid now that
you're watching it closely.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')