Monday, February 09, 2009 - 06:53 am, by: Scott Tolhurst(Whottwally)
Having issues with my power steering on the weekend so decided to find the gremlin. After cleaning up the 1/2 litre of fluid all round my engine bay i found the main hose from reservoir to pump was split has anyone else had this?
Monday, February 09, 2009 - 09:16 am, by: Dave Rose(Sand_groper)
Yes, they get hard over time and crack you can buy a length from auto cheap. Even a small crack can let air in when the engine is running ...lots of noise....and leak when switch off.
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.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 05:46 pm, by: Bernie Juckers(Burn)
Hey guys, I have been down that road, as have many Soarer owners. You will be better off buying genuine hose replacements. It will cost you more, but will save you further headaches. The genuine hose will have the bends in the right places and will be designed to carry hot hydraulic fluid. If you buy a straight hose, the bends will crimp as the fluid heats up, restricting the flow. The hose also needs to be of hydraulic spec, because anything less will deteriorate, as it reacts with the fluid.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 07:36 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
You could do that if you want...
or you could buy hydraulic hose locally. The factory hose is Yokohama 100PSI hydraulic hose. I assume they aren't the only people in the world who make hydraulic hose. I have used both Yokohama hose off the reel (done about 20000km) and have just purchased some 250PSI high temp hydraulic hose to fit my powersteering cooler. It is bloody hard to kink. I think it'll do - the mining industry doesn't fluff around when it comes to their vehicles...
Thursday, February 12, 2009 - 06:16 am, by: Scott Tolhurst(Whottwally)
Dave Rose wrote on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 10:05 pm:
Scott was on about the hose that feeds the pump this hose is not under any PSI.
Yes mine was only the feed line to the pump. The hose i got to replace it is high temp, high pressure anyway and it cost me $4. I also replaced the factory clamps with stainless hose clamps I don't trust those factory clamps.