DIY: Power steering lines replacement & complete power steering FLUSH
Hello, everybody. I was replacing my P/S lines yesterday and doing the complete system flush. I took pictures and made this picture guide. The reason for doing this was that some lines were leaking at a couple of spots and the P/S pump started making louder noise than it used to. After everything is completed, I'm enjoying the non-leaking P/S system and silently working pump.
I hope somebody finds this info helpful. All the text is in the pictures. Enjoy!
P.S You know how it works: I'm not responsible if you decide to do the same using my write up and something goes wrong. This is for your information only. I do not reccomend following these instructions if you do not know what you are doing.
wow, this is an excellent write-up. i looked in uncle bentley's book yesterday, and it doesnt even cover the hoses, just a basic 'the pump is here'. this is outstanding....
anyway, were you able to reuse the hollow (banjo) bolts connecting the lines at the rack?
wow, this is an excellent write-up. i looked in uncle bentley's book yesterday, and it doesnt even cover the hoses, just a basic 'the pump is here'. this is outstanding....
anyway, were you able to reuse the hollow (banjo) bolts connecting the lines at the rack?
Great work! For comparison I just paid a shop $323 for the same job, $178.50 for 2.1 hrs work and $122 for parts and rest tax. Would have done a DIY job with this thread, but am out of town and the P/S leak that I already knew about got too serious.
le mans, The tool works like a charm, it just slides into the fitting when you push on it a little bit from above and it compresses the fitting for disconnect.
I have not tried myself, but I read accounts of people being able to use 2 pair of pliers to accomplish this. But it takes way more time to disconnect the line than you want to spend on it. They say it's a big PITA to use channel locks to do it. But I'm sure it's possible. I was hesitant to buy the tool at first, but in the end I figured that time is money and if I get stuck with this problem it's not going to be worth my time.
Great work! For comparison I just paid a shop $323 for the same job, $178.50 for 2.1 hrs work and $122 for parts and rest tax. Would have done a DIY job with this thread, but am out of town and the P/S leak that I already knew about got too serious.
starless you have set a new standard for DIY's, great job. your DIY's are always very well thought out, clear and concise in a true repeatable scientific format. +10 for wiki
Hey, guys. If anybody needs "the tool" I'll loan it to you. Just PM me. You leave me the deposit (20$) through paypal, pay for shipping both ways, use it for your repairs, send it back to me, I return the deposit back to your paypal account. So, you end up paying only for shipping both ways. Fair enough?
I'm planning on doing this replacement/ flush along with replacing my pump and res this weekend. Any chance I can borrow your tool? PM me and I can give you my paypal account and fed ex # to ship overnight to my address
Your thread looks straight forward enough to tackle this job myself. Thanks!
Your DIY's are the best in the business. You had to be a technical writer, or in the catalog business at some point, correct? Clear, concise, always the right camera angle. Very well done. I feel like a darn amateur doing my flush with a turkey baster.
Thank you for your kind words, SJBimmer. As for desk top publishing, it's always been my hobby to play with Adobe Photoshop and PageMaker to make up pages and incorporate some graphics into them. Nothing serious or professional, just like working on my bimmer - a pure amateur interest. Just like many of us here I'm a big believer in sharing experience on the forum and feel I need to contribute when I can. And since I do not have profound knowledge of cars, taking a couple of pictures of my repairs is the least I can do for the online community
@Starless, thanks very much for this...I have found this to be the most comprehensive. I need to do this soon. Would it be better to follow this flush procedure first before replacing the hoses? Also, how fast does the fluid level go down? I might have to do this as a one man job and wondered if it was possible.
If you want/need to replace hoses, then definitely do the flush after since by doing this you will also bleed the system and there will be virtually no air pockets to worry about. If you want to do just the flush, the set up is going to be exactly the same. Just disconnect the lines from the reservoir.
The fluid goes down pretty fast. To give you an idea, that big funnel that I used will be almost empty in about 5 seconds after you start the engine. It will take about 10-15 seconds to go through that gallon of ATF that you will be adding into the funnel. That's why i did not use the reservoir for this purpose - it would empty out in one second and there is no way you would be able to add atf without letting the pump run dry.
You do need a helper to start and shut down the engine. It will take a coulpe of minutes of their time. Grab a relative, friend, neighbour or a passing by stranger. It's possible to do it by yourself but I'd not recommend it because the pump will run dry which is not a big deal for a couple of seconds, but then the system will be full of air and you'll have a hell of a time to bleed it. If you must do it by yourself, then I'd probable use the reservoir instead of the funnel and just dump atf into it to keep the flow. That would be tricky. Try to find somebody for 5 minutes!
is there a post dealing with bleeding the air from the power steering system?
i swapped out the hoses and reservoir today, and there seems to be quite a bit of air in the system. i ran about 3 1/2 quarts through the funnel into the pump, but the output into the bucket was still foamy. (great tip about using the hose ends from the funnel to attach the return line to the bucket drain.) when i ran the car it made a strange groaning noise when driving around the driveway.
how do i get rid of the air? i searched for 'power steering bleed air', but didnt find a thread on bleeding the air
thanks,
--roger
(took 4 hours, including a visit from mom, 2 phone calls, and refilling the humidifier.)
is there a post dealing with bleeding the air from the power steering system?
i swapped out the hoses and reservoir today, and there seems to be quite a bit of air in the system. i ran about 3 1/2 quarts through the funnel into the pump, but the output into the bucket was still foamy. (great tip about using the hose ends from the funnel to attach the return line to the bucket drain.) when i ran the car it made a strange groaning noise when driving around the driveway.
how do i get rid of the air? i searched for 'power steering bleed air', but didnt find a thread on bleeding the air
thanks,
--roger
(took 4 hours, including a visit from mom, 2 phone calls, and refilling the humidifier.)
I'm glad you figured it out. I know it's a late responce but, yeah, bleeding the system is easy:
1. With the reservoir cap open you need to turn the steering wheel from lock to lock several times. It is much better to do this with the front wheels in the air not to put too much strain on the pump. Do not hold it in the full lock position for more then a coulple of seconds, again not to put too much pressure on the pump.
2. Then you check the fluid level in the reservoir and add if needed.
3. Then repeat the process.
4. When the fluid in the reservoir does not drop any more after turning the steering wheel from lock to lock and there are no air bubbles in the fluid, you are done and have successfully bled the Ps system.
However if you followed my DIY flush you should not have a lot of air in the system at all.
Does anybody who lives in the Indianapolis area have this tool I can borrow. I purchased about two weeks ago and s&j tools has been out of stock. Im on vacation this week and really want to knock this job out. There is a dinner for two at Maggianos in it for anyone who can help me out!
Does anyone know which way the fluid flows in the power steering pump pictured here? Does it flow from the hose with the clamp (arrow pointing to it) through the pump and out to the metal line or is it the other way around?
Genuity, yes, the ps fluid (ATF) flows into the pump (from the reservoir) thru the black hose with the clamp (low pressure line, marked with arrows on the pic) and exits thru the other hose (high pressure line - the only one I have not changed)
Alright, finally had time to get organize the pics...
First pic: 0.jpg - is the clear tubing I used 5/8" x 1/2" x 10'. Note that the outer diameter of the tubing is 5/8 and the inner diameter is 1/2". This is the same as Starless' tubing. These measurements will be important for buying the fittings. I bought 5/8" fitting then had to go back to get the 1/2" ones since that is the inner diameter which goes best with everything.
Second and third pics: 1.jpg and 2.jpg is the ATF I used. I tried to find the blue container that Starless used but this was the only one available. It served it's purpose though and note from the back label it is also synthetic :thumbup:
Fourth pic: 3.jpg Showed the funnel I used, which is the same as the one Starless used. I got this at AutoZone. I also did not use the hose that was attached to it and that little black flippy cap that you see in this picture. I just took it off since I was going to put more tubing to that blue part of that funnel. You will also see in the next round of pic post that I will secure this funnel to a ladder, so all I will have to do is pour the fluid and make sure it does not get empty.
Fifth and sixth pic: 4.jpg and 5.jpg is the "drill pump" I bought from Harbor Freight. It was intended to pump water. The thread size on it is 3/4" and it is basically the same standard size as a garden hose. Note how it has a drill bit on it. This is where you put into the drill chuck. This is also where it leaked ATF from when I was pumping. It was not a gusher, but it again was enough to serve its purpose. I am also not sure if it leaked because ATF was thicker than water but I do know that this drill pump thing was rated up to 2500 RPMs which is the highest RPM that my drill was so it was not that I exceeded the RPMs. It could have also been because of pressure...maybe it was just too much for it. Anyone with ideas on why it leaked? Was it because it was a cheapo Harbor Freight Made in China thing? Anyhow, it did the job. The item farthest on the right is a 1/2" splicer. This will be important in the next post.
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