Power Steering Hose Replacement

[BXX]

Well, I bought a really clean 92 Z34 for $500... Only problem, it leaks power steering fluid at an alarming rate... I let it get a little dry and air in the system, so the rack got air in it... Of course after a good refill, I tried to bleed the system without much luck, so obviously the pressure line is the source of the leak, not to mention it's getting the shiney new altenator all nasty

 

I can get the line for $20, no biggy... Anyone replaced one on the LQ1. It doesn't seem too hard, but I want some insight until I tackle it.. I don't have a garage available and there is snow everywhere, so if it's gonna be a pain, i'll pay a shop to do it... otherwise, if it's only like a 30 minute job, i'll do it...

[CSI_MuNkY]

Mine recently blew too. I had a shop do it because I didn't have the time to do it myself. It ended up costing me $360 CDN after parts and labour. They had my car for 6 hours, dunno if it actually took that long. I took it in before I went to class and picked it up on my way to work

 

Jamie

[Robby1870]

You gotta drop the rear of the subframe down 4 or 5 inches to get clearance to unscrew the line from the rack.

[GutlessSupreme]

You gotta drop the rear of the subframe down 4 or 5 inches to get clearance to unscrew the line from the rack.

 

ew.. definetly doing mine while the motor's out then, even though it looks fine.

[BXX]

You gotta drop the rear of the subframe down 4 or 5 inches to get clearance to unscrew the line from the rack.

 

Are you serious??? Repair manuals say to only drop the cradle 3 inches with LQ1 cars or it can damage crap

[digitaloutsider]

Place a jack under the subframe and loosen the bolts and use the jack to lower it. You can bring it down pretty far without messing anything up. Be wary of the steering column pinch bolt. You don't want to break that thing.

[BXX]

Don't worry. Since i'm moving tomorrow, I dropped it off at a mechanic I know to have him fix that and fix anything else that is wrong. It can sit there no problem until I pay for it and feel like going to get it..

[gp90se]

You gotta drop the rear of the subframe down 4 or 5 inches to get clearance to unscrew the line from the rack.

 

ew.. definetly doing mine while the motor's out then, even though it looks fine.

 

LQ1 is a bitch, the 3.1 can be done without dropping the cradle

[rockfangd]

what about my 3100 94 cutty . one of my lines is leaking, i am afraid of the difficulty of the job though

[paulo57509]

You gotta drop the rear of the subframe down 4 or 5 inches to get clearance to unscrew the line from the rack.

 

ew.. definetly doing mine while the motor's out then, even though it looks fine.

 

LQ1 is a bitch, the 3.1 can be done without dropping the cradle

 

+1. Rotating the engine, long extensions and crow feet for flare nuts help a lot too.

 

But if you ever want to replace the hard return line that snakes all over the engine compartment, I think it's easier to pull the engine.

[rockfangd]

so basically disconnect the dogbones and rotate the engine forward to make things easier. Also when I did my oil change i noticed both of my tansmission lines at the bottom of the radiator, near the petcock, looks to be leaking near the hose clamps and also closer to the tranny, does this sound familiar to anyone, as i do not want them to break any worse but i cannot seem to pull a part number. they both thread into the tranny but have clamps on the radiator . this is my most concern as of right now

[White93z34]

i just did this on a 92' GP 3.1 it wasen't a super easy job but not a bad one by any means. just needed a 16mm and a 18mm wrench. i was able to reach down by the master cyl to get the line off the rack. not the best but certinally not the worst.

[rockfangd]

I had a fun job yesterday thatmight beat the PS job I did an oil pan and gasket on a 93 eage vision, i rated it about a 4 because noone had ever tampered with the sway bar before, lololol

[Robby1870]

i just did this on a 92' GP 3.1 it wasen't a super easy job but not a bad one by any means. just needed a 16mm and a 18mm wrench. i was able to reach down by the master cyl to get the line off the rack. not the best but certinally not the worst.

 

I saw this post yesterday and went out and looked and sure enough, it is possible to reach down by the master cylinder.

[Justin]

Any reason you guys aren't just replacing the chunk of hose in the middle of the hard line? Since that's where about 90% of them leak I'm guessing that's where you guys' are as well. Extremely easy on 5 speed cars, but not too bad on autos either. Just cut off the factory clamps, get some hydraulic hose and double clamp it on either side. Our GM dealer used to have the quick lube kids do it in the oil change drive, so if they can do it I'm sure some shadtree mechanics could. Worked perfectly on my old Z.

[Robby1870]

Any reason you guys aren't just replacing the chunk of hose in the middle of the hard line? Since that's where about 90% of them leak I'm guessing that's where you guys' are as well. Extremely easy on 5 speed cars, but not too bad on autos either. Just cut off the factory clamps, get some hydraulic hose and double clamp it on either side. Our GM dealer used to have the quick lube kids do it in the oil change drive, so if they can do it I'm sure some shadtree mechanics could. Worked perfectly on my old Z.

 

That's where mine is leaking. And, it appears someone tried to do that before I owned the car. They obviously did not do a good job. I was going to try this when it warms up, maybe even flare the end of the tube after its cut to give the rubber something to seal against better. Seems like a fairly easy job, even on an auto.

[rockfangd]

i did that with a 98 lumy because where it mounts to the frame it always rots and springs a hole

[BXX]

We as far as I know, my mechanic in Mansfield has replaced them without dropping the subframe... I'll know more when I go to pick it up sometime in the spring... I don't want it to see snow and I want him to dink around with a few other things...