Steering fluid leaking

[adamhop]

I'm losing power steering fluid in my 94 e34. Anyone have any suggestions on finding the leak? Thanks.

[Jehu]

Look at the base of the PS Fluid reseviour.I have a slightish leak there as well and carry a can of fluid with me.Looks like the hose fitting is leaking or the hose is split near the resevior and i do not ,when i get around to repairing it,expect a difficult or expensive fix.Let us know what you find.

[shogun]

Check all low and high pressure hoses.
Start with the low pressure hose which sits at the bottom of the Pentosin reservoir.
Best is you clean all with brake cleaner and then check every day.
Otherwise it is difficult to find.
I had a leak at the hose under the reservoir, but the fluid ran down that hose to the lowest point, dropped to the next hose and ran down again and finally the fluid came out under a different where where the actual leak was.

[shogun]

Look at the base of the PS Fluid reseviour.I have a slightish leak there as well and carry a can of fluid with me.Looks like the hose fitting is leaking or the hose is split near the resevior and i do not ,when i get around to repairing it,expect a difficult or expensive fix.Let us know what you find.

Jehu,

that is a low pressure hose with a clamp (on my 750 at least). I had it there too. Removed the fluid from the reservoir, then cut off from the hose about 10 mm, attached it again and used a new clamp. No more leak since 5 months.
At the same time I also changed the filter in the rerservoir.

[John B.]

Replacing all the factory style crimp on clamps with adjustable hose clamps should get rid of all your leaks unless you have a rotted hose.

[Spasso]

After 6 months we finally found the last P/S steering leak on my Dad's Touring. It was the factory crimp on the main intake hose between the reservoir and pump. We found it by cleaning the underside and engine bay thoroughly then adding a dye and using a black light to locate the source.

[wingman]

Hose is Au$56 from stealer. Just ordered one. I'm not sure how that will translate to your locale. I was tempted to cut a bit of the hose off and but I've done that before and found that the hose wasn't long enough to reach. I figure that I wont have to fix it again anytime soon with a new hose.

[shogun]

I have done that all without buying from the dealer. The connections are OEM BMW only, but the hoses are hydraulic hoses. Some low pressure, some high pressure up to 250 bar (layout).
Find a hydraulic shop or a repair shop for agricultural equipment which usually have a lot to repair on hydraulics.

The usual procedure is to take and cut off the metal sleeve over the hose with grinder or cutoff wheel in a 4 inch grinder. Then you remove the old hose, you use a new sleeve with the old metal fittings and new hose, the new sleeve is crimped into place just like the original.
I made a pic last year when I was i Germany and a friend made it for me
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/7659/hochdruckschlauch136mn.jpg

Some shops (maybe they do not know the exact procedure) just cut off the pipe which is only fitting to BMW. That is not the right procedure in my opinion, as shown here
http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/paparon/IMG_2788.JPG
http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/paparon/IMG_2789.JPG
http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/paparon/IMG_2790.JPG

These were my old ones
http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/shogun/CIMG4994.jpg


Cost me for all $ 20 tip for the guy who let us do the work in the hydraulic shop :D
Including the use of the big press for crimping.

[wingman]

Shogun I love your ingenuity! Adamhop be aware that the high pressure hose from the stealer will cost you BIG bucks so follow Shogun's advice. On the E12 I got Pirtek to attach the old fittings onto a new hose and the lot cost me about Au$80 as opposed to over Au$600 from the stealer. I spent some of the money I saved on braided hoses for the low pressure stuff which looked cool. As previoulsy advised it might be a good chance to change the filter and don't forget to bleed the system once it's all back together.

[Jehu]

Jehu,

that is a low pressure hose with a clamp (on my 750 at least). I had it there too. Removed the fluid from the reservoir, then cut off from the hose about 10 mm, attached it again and used a new clamp. No more leak since 5 months.
At the same time I also changed the filter in the rerservoir.

Thanks Shogun.I will try this. i could use MAF Cleaner to clean the low pressure connection instead of brake fluid since i have the one but not the other already and see that its really there. Seems most likely since the gunk trail does begin there...

[shogun]

That is an easy fix then, when the gunk trail starts there.
Does not matter what you use for cleaning.
I often use Kerosene or Diesel for washing off oil, I even cleaned my throttling vales with that. Kerosene is used here often for heating stoves.
I filled it in a plastic spray bottle and it works great.

[adamhop]

Thanks for all your help. I appreciate all the replies.