Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - 07:46 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Yes it is an easy DIY thing. find the hose at fault and measure the length of it. A lot of them are less than a foot long before returning to hard lines.
Ask any decent auto parts shop for 3/8 or 10mm powersteering hose (ie not Repco Singleton- they only sell hose for holdens and ford???) Any 'fluid transfer' shops will know exactly what you want also. If they dont have specific power steer hose, anything suitable for auto transmissions, or hydraulic fluids will work.
The hose is held in place with spring loaded clips. Use pliars to release the tension and slide them down the line. Wiggle hose off and replace. I reused the same clips, but it would probably be better to use new clips, or hose clamps.
You will need to bleed the system after topping up any fluids you lost. Bleeding involves idling the car and turning from lock to lock a couple of times, holding it on lock for a few seconds, until god awful noise is gone. I thought I was destroying it, so I read the manual again. That's how lexus do it. You may need to top up again. The fluid will be all frothy from the air, but this goes away after you let it sit. It took a couple of goes for me as I basically lost all fluid and filled the system with lots of air. If you are quick and block the hose to prevent losing lots of fluid you may not need to do this.
