A couple weeks ago I wrote about the problem of brand new parts arriving with problems. That caliper with the bent bracket that I showed was an aftermarket unit. Unless you go with the cheapest aftermarket parts they’ll usually be about the same quality as OEM parts, but sometimes they’re just not very long lasting.
One afternoon last week I had a Honda Odyssey in to find a power steering fluid leak. It took a while but I finally figured out that it was leaking out of the back of the pump. We had just put on a new aftermarket pump three months ago. While I waited for the new pump to arrive I pulled in an Accord with the brake warning light on. I found that the fluid level was low, and when I checked under the car for leaks, I found that one of the rear calipers was leaking from the piston seal. I checked the repair history and we had replaced both rear calipers five months ago with aftermarket ones. Two cars in a row with leaking aftermarket parts. Maybe they should’ve bought the Honda ones.
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-Dan
Mechanical Malarkey 
Good article. I have a 2012 Odyssey with over 160,000 miles, and I am on my second power steering pump. The current one is a remanufactured pump, and it’s just beyond the 3 year warranty. It’s making a power steering whine, so I replaced both the high pressure and low pressure o-rings and it’s still doing it. No effect in steering, it handles quite nice. I always keep fresh Honda fluid in the reservoir (drain it frequently with a little hand pump). Any ideas besides a new pump again? And is it even worth doing if there’s no effect on steering performance? It’s got all new front suspension parts (tie rods, ball joints, lower control arms and struts) so it handles like a dream for such high mileage.
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If it’s not leaking and you don’t mind the noise, I’d leave it until it actually becomes a problem.
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