The unL33T

Is it possible to replace just the rubber portion of the power steering return line? My metal coiled portion looks fine (I think it's aluminum?) but the rubber line is deteriorating and leaking at the new reservoir. Would rather not spend $200+ if just the rubber can be changed out.

Seems like it shouldn't be a big deal but I'm still learning a lot about repairs on my cars.

Thanks.

Dan Martinic

On a tip, I once took an AC line to a place that replaced the hose using the original end pieces. Do a search in your area for a hydraulics shop or a place that sells hydraulic fittings and hoses: they might be able to do this. Let us know!

The unL33T

Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm actually in the same location as you (based on what you've got listed, anyway). I should find where to update that.

Dan Martinic

Hey if you're ever in the Lakeshore / Islington area, come by for a drink! You can reach me at dan dot martinic at gmail dot com


I took my AC line to a place in Brampton on Queen street--turned out to be a car dealer with a hose fitting guy working inside.. but a quick search shows lots of "hydraulic hose repair" in The Big City. You can also try Princess Auto--I think they do stuff like that

The unL33T

I ended up calling a mechanic friend and asking him about it. He said if it's not high pressure I should be fine to do it myself with just some hydraulic hose and some hose clamps but he suspects this line is high pressure. Can anyone confirm?

Spring44

Yes, you can replace this hose end easily by taking it to a hydraulic hose shop and letting them do it, or just cut off the metal crimping device, buy a piece of hydraulic hose (3/8" ID, I think) and attach it with a regular hose clamp. It is just a return line and so it doesn't have much pressure on it.
I just did this 3 years ago when I replaced my rack and rebuilt the pump. I took the return line to a local hose shop and when the word 'metric' rolled off of my lips, everyone in the shop froze in their tracks, turned ashen gray and said "We don't do metric stuff". However, after I said that it was nearly a 3/8", they gave me a few feet of new 3/8" hose left over from another job, patted me on the butt and showed me the door. They still didn't want to install it! Oh well, it was free and I soon had it replaced and back on the car.

The unL33T

Thanks. This is what I figured. As far as I can tell it connects to the reservoir with a normal barbed fitting and a clamp, anyway, so I can't see why using one further down would be an issue. And the hydraulic parts I'm seeing with similar fittings on them are rated for 135 PSI, anyway (not that I know what kind of pressures the return line would see).

Spring44

It would seem to me that the pressure inside of the reservoir is basically atmospheric pressure or slightly higher, else the fluid in the reservoir would blow up into your face when you remove the cap with the engine running. It doesn't do this so the implication is that any pressure remaining after the fluid returns to the reservoir is minuscule and is vented normally. You only need enough pressure coming from the rack to sweep the fluid from the return line, through the cooler and into the reservoir and this, I think, is not very much.

The unL33T

I measured the nipples on my old reservoir and the smaller one was 17.5 mm and the larger one 21 mm.

I think the smaller one is the return. I'd be leaning towards 5/8" ID hose rather than 3/8". Sounds reasonable?

Spring44

Yes, quite reasonable. I was going by my memory from three years ago and you have the fittings right in front of you to measure. Get the size hose that works for you!
I just took the old steel return line from the rack off, removed the rubber hose from it, took it to the hose shop and found a hose that would slip snugly over the barbed end of the line. The rubber hose that I replaced was the one going into the cooler from the metal return line from the PS rack. I don't think that I had to replace the hose between the cooler and the reservoir, as it did not leak. We may be talking about two different hoses and I am sorry if I confused things. Cheers!

Spring44

duplicate post!

The unL33T

No problem. I'm just trying to make sure I'll have everything ahead of time as the 944 is currently my daily driver as apparently it's more reliable than my X3 that's 20 years newer that won't change gears anymore for the 2nd time in 2 years.

Zirconocene

PET is your friend in this situation (and many others). I don't know how much things changed over the years, or what year your car is, but here's some pictures from a '91 diagram:


From the '89-'91 PET

45, and all the things attached to it, are the low pressure, return line. You can feel free to replace hose as needed with parts from your local auto store, even if you can't find the metric hose (the nearest imperial/SAE size will do you fine). Even the crimped parts of that line can be cut and replaced with worm drive clamps, with the usual caveat that you want to use the kind of worm clamps that have rounded edges (Norma, as an example) so that they don't cut the hose over time. I have not dug into this on my 944 yet but looking at the diagram, it looks like you might run into some trickiness with some of the hoses having flared ends, as they meet up with different sized fittings (parts 39 and 26 as examples). I have some ideas about how to handle that but wouldn't recommend them without having tried it myself first, or run it by other people so until then, I recommend OEM or equivalent.

51 is the pressure line and should be treated with great respect. For that, either get it rebuilt professionally, or buy the new part. From what I have read, rebuilt is a much lower cost option.

As others have said, please update this with what you do. This kind of work, and success stories, are really helpful to the community.

Cheers and good luck!