Power Steering High Pressue Line Replacement

[patgizz]

i bought a set of stumpy metric wrenches specifically for this job. i drop the rear of the cradle about an inch and unbolt the downpipe and slide the exhaust over to the right with a bungee. that gives enough room to work around the bulky auto trans. i always cut the line and get a socket on the fitting if i'm putting on a new line, no chance to strip a stubborn fitting with a 6 point socket and no busted knuckles.

i dont know how many times i've done this now.

[Lyle's GTP]

He's right. If you strip that fitting, you'll be fucked. You'd have to pull the rack to fix the problem. By the way, when you cut the steel line, don't use a saw. You don't want any filings going inside the rack. Use some small bolt cutters instead.

Lyle

[Test4echo]

Mother of a &$%$.

What a pain in the ass!
Aaron, you were right, no chance at all through the wheel well.
The only option I see is to go in from the top using and extension and a box wrench.
Cut the pipe pray it comes loose.

I guess you don't know your up to your neck in shit, until its up to your neck.


Now I need a

[pocket-rocket]

He's right. If you strip that fitting, you'll be fucked. You'd have to pull the rack to fix the problem. By the way, when you cut the steel line, don't use a saw. You don't want any filings going inside the rack. Use some small bolt cutters instead.

Lyle

I have a mini-tube cutter I like to use. It only measures about 1 1/2"-2" tall and deep when it's adjusted as small as it will go, and about 1/2" wide.

[pocket-rocket]

Maybe I should use this as an excuse for my dad to buy one for me

That would be a bad idea. If I barely got any life out of my autos with my lead foot, what makes you think they would last under yours? lol

[Test4echo]

Update!

We finally, got the old Hose and Nut off.
Then could not get the new one fished back through.
I have no frigging idea how you guys fished the new one back through that mess.
So, A guy from GM came over, (a buddy) and started laughing at us.
He was wondering why in the hell we would try to put a Hose with 15 different angles back in again.
So, he took my new hose ($89.00) and cut the ends off. He cut it far enough down so that the angles would still mate properly.

He said he would put a flexiable High pressure hose between them and then we could route the hose up higher around the back of the engine near the top instead of the original routing.

So, tommorow I'll give ya and updtae as to how that works out.....
And I ain't so sure it will......
But they were the "experts" so I had no choice but to trust them.

Gimme 2 bullets, one for the car, and one for me.....

[Test4echo]

Finally...

Well, got the new hose today, the one my buddy made at work.
Wow, is it ever nice.
I know, I know, Its a hose, but its beautifull hose....

So, I had no help today, was all on my own. I routed the hose from the pump then back around the engine just under the back Spark Plugs, then down following pretty much the tranny dipstick funel.

He made a 90* fitting so that I could couple the new High Pressure fliexi hose very easily.

All I had to do was tigten the Nut at the rack first, the swivel the homemade adaper straight up to meet the new hose.

All done, no leaks, no noises, steering feels good. ahhhh.

However, I did have to remove the IAC valve to get my arm between it and the Master cylinder.

I notice now I'm getting a code 44 which is a lean fuel mixture.
I also notice a crapload of carbon on pintle.
Is that normal?
Could this be the cause of my code?

More info,

I also replaced both mufflers.
Yes, that was pain in ass too. But not as bad as that hose.


I did reset the computer after all of this, but that damn code 44 keep poppin back up.


Well, next thing is that oil leak.....infamous.

hehehe

test,

[Mario&Luigi]

Same Problem here. My power steering line was leaking. QUICK FIX

There was still good hose left so I cut the old part off and tightened the clamp. FREE FIX.

[Mario&Luigi]

The way I did my FREE power steering fix.

Get access to a lift where you can walk underneeth your car.

EASY ACCESS to leaking hose from underneath the car.

[93luminaz34]

I just did this job on my auto Z a couple weeks ago.

I had the car jacked up really high so the tranny wasnt touching my nose. lol

I used a hacksaw blade in a vise-grip(without the hacksaw) to cut the line from the fitting.

Then I used a spark plug ratchet and a socket to bust the fitting loose from the rack. I didn't drop the subframe or undo the downpipe.

I then fed the old hose out the top. The old hose was leaking on the bottom rubber portion. I had my alt replaced just over a month before which may have caused it.

I taped up the ends of the new hose before I fed it in, so I wouldn't get any dirt or grease in it on the way down. I fed the new hose in from the top.

I removed the airbox and pipe to gain access to the connection on the rack from the top.

I took a 18mm?(I forget) wrench and cut it roughly in half and used the open end to turn the fitting in while my dad was below lining the fitting up.

Then just make sure that the line isn't rubbing against anything or else you'll be doing this again soon. It was a bitch job, i bet the manual's a lot easier.

[pocket-rocket]

Yeah, the manuals are easier in alot of ways. I was just under my 92 yesterday, and I could get at the CPS, Knock sensor, and pretty much anything else down/under the engine I wanted to. It makes putting that bolt for the bracket on the back of the alternator alot easier for sure (the reason I was under there).

[Test4echo]

Yep,

We ended up doing something similar.
Except from the top.

Put a small Hacksaw blade into the end of an old broom stick.

Then sawed off the fitting. (yes I know, metal shavings in the rack WAS a concern) but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

We took out the Air box, the IAC, that gave me enough room to put the new hose in by hand, and tighten it.

However, like i mentioned, I used a custom hose that I could route over the top portion of the 3.4 just in behind the back plug wires against the firewall.

Worked like a charm.
If anything ever happens again, it'll be a simple matter instead of a pain in the ass.


test,

[dohcfiend]

i had to replace the high pressure line on mine be4 my engine compartment would smoke and no1 could figure out why and one day i saw the line squirt fluid on the rear manifold. i don't know about u guys but all i needed was a pair of vise grips and a 5/8 line wrench cause the replacement was standard and not the 16mm metric.

i simply jacked up the car and removed the downpipe. it wasn't a cakewalk but it wasn't very hard either.