Power Steering Hose Replacement - Need Advice
Hello Everyone,
Was working on high pressure Power Steering hose replacement due to old one collapsing and when took the PS Pump side off, there was a spring and a elongated metal valve that shot out of the PS Pump. Now I need help with re-assembly. I've searched the web and this forum and surprisingly enough, there is not a whole lot on VX power steering.
Essentially, I need to determine what goes in first and in what manner. It looked to me that the spring came out first but looking at the manual (off Tone's site) I believe the spring would go in first.
A surprising discovery: the valve as shown in the shop manual is NOT THE SAME as the one I have in my 2001 Vx. The one I have is tubular metal, with a needle on one side and a thicker opposite end with a very fine mesh (also metal - almost looked like a filter). Have no clue what side goes in first. :confused: The way I reassembled it is spring first, then valve second with needle side in first. I now have NO POWER STEERING - so that was wrong. Before I make attempt 2, any advice on this would be most appreciated!
Update: The valve is item #24 on page 202 in the workshop manual, except mine does not look like that.
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WRITE UP:
The part in question is a P/S Pressure Hose; pump to gearbox inlet. Collapsed due to wear and tear. Got a new PS hose for about $170 from AutoHausaz.com - always had a good experience dealing with those guys and normally lowest prices around! The new hose looked/felt a lot better than the OEM unit so it'll be interesting to see how long it will last.
Install was pretty straightforward but a major PITA, haven't worked with VXs before so this was a learning experience for me. This should take about 4-6 hours depending on skill level. More if you can't change your own oil filter. :p The hardest part was getting into tight spaces.
The trick is, do not hesitate to remove intake, wiring harness (by the driver's headlight), hoses, or whatever other crap you will find in your way - you will need as much room as you will gather. I started by removing intake, and upper part of the rad fan plastic assembly. Then, from below, unclip the lower part of the assembly and move that over toward passenger's side of the compartment - no need to fully remove it. Wiring harness is attached to it, leave it so but unplug it so that you can move it with the assembly once ready. There are two 12mm bolts on top and 2 metal clips on each side (holding assembly halves together). Now here is where it gets tricky.
First remove the hose running from your PS reservoir, there are two 12mm bolts you will need to remove with the metal bracket on top of the pump. Then you will need a 15/16 wrench to remove the PS Pump end of the hose. CAREFULLY, remove that end of the hose with a 15/16 wrench. You might need to use a second 15/16 wrench to keep the PS pump connector from spinning as you're removing the bolt.
NOTE: Sometimes, the PS pump connector will become loose instead of the 15/16 bolt, as you're removing it (as it did in my scenario). After wasting 45 minutes deliberating on the best angle of attack, I just cut the hose (you will obviously need to drain your PS fluid first) with bolt-cutters close enough to the end where it could spin without catching onto anything at which point I was able to easily remove it. <= This damages your old hose and is actually a wrong way to remove it as you will have a springloaded valve shoot out of the PS pump (didn't have the second wrench to keep the connector from spinning). You need to try to remove the bolt without the PS connector. If you have to remove it, BE CAREFULL, make sure the valve doesn't shoot out of there and pay attention to the order and how it was installed - I failed to keep that in check.
TIP: you can also attack this bolt from your driver's side wheel well (didn't discover this until re-assembly). There is just a rubber flap between the wheel well and engine bay, take your wheel off (or turn wheels all the way to the left) and have fun with it - makes things a whole lot easier.
Once you get that done, move on to the other end which is at the bottom on the side of your rad, driver's side. It's pretty straightforward but because the going was hard, I decided to remove the metal tubing and work on removing the other end of the hose from the tubing out of the engine bay as it is EXTREMELY crowded in there and you will end up fracking up your rad fins, or your hands. Inspect where the tubing goes first, there are two lines, which is actually one line that returns. From the end of your pressure PS hose, follow that below. There is a mounting bracket, 12 mm, remove it - will be tough and tedious. Nice and slow here. After that, the line goes right underneath your rad, easy to see from the bottom. Held by another bracket, 12mm. Remove it. Following to the end of the piping, you will come to your gearbox, I used an adjustable wrench to remove it there, not sure what size - pretty easy.
Not that it's free, wiggle it out of the bay, and remove remaining hose. Reinstall with new hose attached but make sure it runs/fits to the PS pump before tightening it down.
Then re-assemble everything in the opposite order, pay attention to the tubing going to your gearbox. Make sure the nut is nice and straight and easy when tightening down - you will otherwise strip it!
The 15/16 PS pump bolt will also be a chore. You will have to make sure that you did a good job aligning the hose before reinstalling it and keeping it nice and straight before tightening it down. Muchotakiteazy! Don't use too much force unless you're absolutely sure that bolt is going in properly and you're not stripping thread.
I think that's it. It will be a mess and you will be sore afterwards. Sorry for no pictures. Get a buddy to give you a hand - profanities would be more fun with both of you suffering together. If anyone has anything to add, feel free.
Errr... the above is obviously an opinionated suggestion on replacement of the pressure PS hose. I'm not a professional mechanic. Actually, I'm just posting this to give people idea what they're up against. It worked for me - does not mean it will work for you. Refer to your shop manual and use the above at your own risk. Cheers!
UPDATE - Power Steering Hose
Alright, so first thing this morning I went back at it. Figured the spring HAS to be in first, irrespective of what I think I saw. Now, since having the valve in one way was wrong, my next move was to reverse the valve so the needle side goes in last and is pointing toward the connector and ps hose out of the pump.
Well, that worked. The second attempt went MUCH easier and again, the connector broke loose, so I had to really get something to hold in in place as the hose was being removed - like proper tools!
Y33TREKker:
Thanks for reply mate, that's the diagram I have. The differences however between that diagram and my hardware is that valve (24) looks nothing like the valve I actually have, and there are no retaining ring (22), filter (23), and o-ring (25), as depicted on the diagram, at all.
So for those of you with parts other than what's on the diagram remember, spring first, valve second, with the needle side last. Good luck.
