[mio]

The hose that you highlight appears to be the high pressure hose (see #12 in this diagram) which goes to the steering rack, not the power steering pump (which is located just below the air intake at the front-left corner of the engine; see #23 in the previous diagram).

 

[myredsaab]

Thanks a lot MIO. All clear now

 

[BobSaabit]

Yeah, that's the second half of the pump to rack pressure hose. It connects under the battery tray. It's a real PITA to get the old one out and the new one back in.

Before you order parts, check the other half of the hose. It's rubber coming off the pump but it changes to a steel pipe. They like to rust on the left side where they turn up under the battery tray. If it's too rusty it is likely to break when you start twisting things under there to replace the upper line.

Some guys have had hydraulic hoses made up that run from the pump to the rack to avoid the installation hassle and rust issues. The bumper and a number of other items have to come off to do the under hose.

 

[myredsaab]

Thank you Bob for your comments/wornings. Unfortunatelly I already order the part. Now I remember that I was replacing that pipe going to the pump in 2018. So hopefully it is still in reasonable shape. I focused on that area, close to fuse box, because I had spill of fluid. Didn't noticed any fluid mess at the front. But will check again tomorrow at day light. Will I have to remove bumper to access the union connector?

 

[BobSaabit]

No, you don't need to remove the bumper to do that hose. You could, but there's no need to. You can access it through the wheel well. The only trick is that you don't have a lot of room or visual room. But you just need to get an open end wrench on the fixed side and another one on the fitting. It's a little slow going but it's not too bad.

The end near the rack is easy too. It's up high. It will come apart easily.

The PITA part is getting the pipe out and back in. I removed the battery and I unclamped the PS Reservoir (and pushed it out of the way as I worked that end). At the battery end, even with the battery out, you still have the tray seriously in the way. I used a large lever to pry the A/C lines out of the way as I worked. I unbolted the A/C line under the battery tray to get a little more flexibility.

I spent over an hour fiddling but while it will seem impossible to make it happen, you can. Definitely do not attach the upper or lower ends until the pipe is in place. Then do the bottom fitting under the battery first as you have to get the hose lined up just right to get the fitting started in without cross threading. Hook up the top side last.

 

[myredsaab]

Thanks again. I knew it will not be easy. And the weather now is a big factor too.
But thanks for all these details , I am sure they will be helpful. And at the end my wife will give me a big hug. She loves the car

 

[BobSaabit]

Thanks again. I knew it will not be easy. And the weather now is a big factor too.
But thanks for all these details , I am sure they will be helpful. And at the end my wife will give me a big hug. She loves the car

Get a large cup of hot coffee with a refill ready for the 1 hour point. Most of the job is finagling, so you can wear reasonably thick work gloves except for the part where fluid is involved (assuming you don't want them fluid soaked) The only part where fluid will come into play with your hands is when you separate the joint under the bumper. Do that first, with a pan under there to catch what drains and just leave it there as they will drip for a bit from both sides. Open the top joint next so that the upper pipe can drain fully. Then you can wear gloves for the two hours of pipe wrangling and unbolting / unsnapping other stuff.

 

[myredsaab]

Thanks again,
This job seems to be more and more challenging. Ihe hose will arrive in the second half of the week, So I still have some time to prepare myself technically and emotionally. Thank you for helping me in this process.

 

[BobSaabit]

Thanks again,
This job seems to be more and more challenging. Ihe hose will arrive in the second half of the week, So I still have some time to prepare myself technically and emotionally. Thank you for helping me in this process.

Not hard, just a PITA. If you replaced that other one a few years ago, the joint will open right up... and that's the only sticky point, no pun intended. The rest is just wiggling and swearing.

 

[myredsaab]

Not hard, just a PITA. If you replaced that other one a few years ago, the joint will open right up... and that's the only sticky point, no pun intended. The rest is just wiggling and swearing.

Looks that delivery of the hose for my car is delayed. Just for curiosity , is there any way to fix the pinhole like this without replacement? I noticed that the hose is wrapped with some kind of tape, so the hole can be not exactly where I see wet spot.

 

[BobSaabit]

I tried this sealing tape that's supposed to be good to 700 psi. But from what I understand about PS systems, pressure can spike over 1000 psi when you hit lock in either direction.

It slowed the leak but did not stop it. I tried my best to avoid lock, which minimized fluid loss. But there was still loss: https://www.autozone.com/miscellane...esign-engineering-silicone-self-healing-tape/

FYI - you can use CHF 202 instead of the original CHF 11S and save quite a bit on fluid. 100% compatible.

 

[myredsaab]

I already bought Pentosin CHF11S. My hose just arrived so I will try to install it either tomorrow or Friday.

 

[myredsaab]

Thank you all for support and help. I finished sucessfully before dark. As you adviced I removed battery, battery tray,, driver side wheel, but found that better access was from underneath. Picture of the union attached (the black one). Obviously had to remove also engine splash shield. I also unbolted bracket holding hose or cable. This is the black one marked by the upper arrow. I didn't unbolted AC pipe,as Bob advised, but I had to push it hard out of the way. I tried to move it right or left, eventually after pushing the metal pipe over that red protrusion which is marked by the arrow on the picture I was able to pull out the hole pipe from right to left or towards front of the car. Putting the new one was much easier.
By the way I bought pipe from Ebay, it was Sunsong 3402948 for $38.83 with free shipping. Few hours latter I realized that Rockauto sells the same part for $18.91 + shipment ( around $10). I tried to cancel ebay order, but it was to late. So it is just lesson for future.

 

[BobSaabit]

Great. Glad you got it done.