If you have ever driven a car with power steering, you know how hard it is to turn the wheel when it looses fluid! It would be easier to push the car to where you are going!

I could only drive the car a few miles before all of the fluid leaked out. Since it was summer in Florida, it was really HOT! So my A/C (when it worked) was on all the time. Every time I stopped the car, turned it off, waited at a traffic signal, turned the wheels... fluid would leak out. Cost me a mini-fortune for replacement fluid.

Took my car to my mechanic (not the dealership, who would have charged me triple), and he had the problem diagnosed within two minutes. The part itself cost about $50 (had to get it from Ford), and it took less than 10 minutes to repair. There was a leak in a connector between the power steering and the A/C -- towards the front of the engine. Ford had designed this model to 'shut off' the A/C to save power when the wheels were turned -- from what my mechanic described.

And all it was was a simple connect plug between the two... plastic plug that had worn out.