Power Steering Replacement Stuff
 

On my 89 XJS V12 just finished replacing the power steering pump, hoses and connections. Since the Cat is built from the bottom up, the process was not without cuts, bruises and a hell of a lot of laughter. Of course, some brown stuff to drink in between. Bought a refurbished pump, new hoses and some hoses from Advanced Auto to complete the job.... Any questions ???

yes i have a 89 to did you use a manual to take it out. and did you do anything to steering rack and how long did take? did you come about any short cuts.

No short cuts to the job and could not find a manual that really described the process. Got a lot of help here in the Forum to guide me through the process and with that help, decided on how I would tackle the task..... First and best is that I have a lift in my garage and it was constantly going up and down as you have to get to almost everything.

First, I removed the power steering cooler and its connections to the steering hoses as I first thought the leak might be coming from the hoses. Then I decided to check the power steering pump as it could have been the culprit so I removed it.... but before that, I had to remove the radiator overflow mounted on the firewall and fastened with three nuts in the left front steering well cavity (after the tire is removed) After pushing aside and disconnecting all kinds of hoses (mostly radiator) I took off the entire left air intake and filter housing and disconnected all connections. Then I disconnected the belt adjusting fitting on the power steering pump pulley, pulled that back and undid the bottom bolt that holds the steering pump to the motor. Then pulled, with some maneuvering, the steering pump out from the top.. Of course, all along, I had to go to the underside to unscrew and disconnect "stuff"..... When I tried to disconnect the high and low pressure hoses from the steering rack, it was easy to see that they would not come off anytime soon unless I dropped the steering rack. Three bolts... One on the passenger side and two on the driver's side... Had to get to the upper "pinch" bolt from the left wheel well. Also had to disconnect the heat shield from the driver's side cat converter and take it out (not difficult).... Then I just pulled down the steering rack with my hands and made sure I noted where the shims were to go back on the bolts to the steering rack. The rack pulled down quite a bit and I was able to remove the two fasteners for the high and low pressure hoses with some difficulty. Sacrificed a 5/8 wrench cutting it in half to get to one of the fittings as I could not figure out any other way to get that loose and out. Since I was doing all this anyway, decided on buying a re manufactured power steering pump on ebay for about $115. Also replace the low pressure hose from the pump cooler to the pump for a few bucks from Advanced Auto.
Putting everything back was less time consuming but more wear and tear on the skin !! Also, may have consumed more brown liquid to assist with the bleeding.... Wore 9mil gloves pretty much all of the time since it helped to retain the blood.... Longest time consumed was to get the parts but figured I spent less than $250.00 on parts (not counting the brown stuff).....
If you do not have a lift, hope you are younger than me........ It can be done and I'm 73... will still answer questions........

Hi also have 89 xjs with power steering leak, im suspecting its the pump to rack hose. Reading the prosess you went threw it sounds pretty difficult. Im 24 dnt have a lift and not very mechanicly minded so do you have and advise for a begginer?

If you in the UK and have a RHD car, it is a good deal easier. The PS has a pressure and a return hose. They are reasonably see-able from under the car. Before you do anything you must learn how to raise the car and hold it SAFELY in the raised position. You need some tools too, what have you got? Spanners, decent trolley jack, socket set, etc.

Assuming you have the car safely raised, see if you can identify exactly where the leak is coming from. If it is the pressure hose it should pour out pretty obviously. Dry off the hoses as far as you can with kitchen paper first. Then, if the car is started and someone moves the steering wheel back and forth, if it is the pressure hose, the leak should be obvious.

If not the pressure hose, try to see where the leak is by wrapping K paper round a section at a time and seeing where the paper gets damp. If the return side is leaking, it is an easy repair. The pressure side means a new hose, or take it to a hydraulic hose place for repair. Keep the pump topped up with ATF.

This was literally one of the first things I had to do to my car when I bought it in 2010 when I graduated high school.

It involves putting the front of the car on jackstands and removing the bolts from the rack (3) so it can drop down and you can access the fittings to the hoses.

The biggest pain is getting the threads on the hoses to line back up so you can re-fit them. The hoses run by the exhaust and naturally get hard and leak. The pump to rack line, which you mentioned is the most likely to leak, since it is under high pressure.

The job involves some patience and annoyance with your hands going bad since they are upside down, but not too bad