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Hey guys, In yet another issue with my baby, right after I repaired a bypass hose that blew, my power steering leaked and completely drained out on my test drive for the replaced bypass hose. God is testing me. Anyway, after setting the stage for a clear investigation of the system I found a brand new rack return line chaffed on the tranny line above it. Tranny line is fine but a clear hole found through the lower new line after cleaning all the gunk off. Lucky me I thought. Just a leaky line. I hit my computer and started to look for the replacement line. Guess what, it is an integral part of the rack and I can not find one anywhere. Mine is steel all the way through and I find generic steering hose lines but nothing exactly matching mine.
So can anyone point me in the right direction for the part or has anyone repaired these successfully. Thanks for your assistance and suggestions!
From your description, I gather that the hose you need is not one of the above, but is instead one of the metal pipes mounted on the steering rack itself.
You may be able to fabricate a replacement using your existing threaded fittings with some new metal brake line. You would need some new metal tubing of the correct size, a tubing cutter, and a flaring tool that can create the correct type of flare for your steering rack. If the pipe has sharp bends, you will probably also need a small tubing bender to avoid kinking the pipe. Here's a video that explains the basics:
Some auto parts stores may have brake line tool kits for rent or loan. If you don't want to mess with this yourself, any hydraulic supply company or knowledgeable brake mechanic can probably make a new pipe for you using your existing fittings, and it shouldn't cost much.
I have similar issue but its the line to the cooler with me that I don't think is included in the posted diagram. I alway have lines made by a local industrial hydraulics shop. So much heavier duty that OEM bits. The hard bit for me is getting the lines out.
I have similar issue but its the line to the cooler with me that I don't think is included in the posted diagram. I alway have lines made by a local industrial hydraulics shop. So much heavier duty that OEM bits. The hard bit for me is getting the lines out.
I had trouble with the cooler lines on our '93 too. I had to modify a standard quick-connect tool by fabricating an insert from brass tubing that helped the tool expand further to force the teeth in the fittings to release the hoses. Here's the brass helper I fabricated:
And here's how it worked:
In our case, I had to disconnect the lines to replace the radiator:
Bought a rebuilt rack for 80.00 US. Installed it myself. Works great. Put some space where the other line rubbed out. Hopefully this holds for awhile. Thanks for everyone's input.
Thanks Jerry. I removed the tie to allow a closer meshing of the two parts, but if this does not work I have enough spare hose to cut out the junction and use a hose clamp.
Power steering gear leaking line replacement
