540/530 guys: DIY Power Steering Hoses?

[RX7guy]

How difficult is it really? I mean really?

Is it really worth it to have a shop do it? I think I'll go next week to get an estimate, only problem is the closest indy shop is an hour away.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Do you have a construction site hydraulics company local, like Pirtek? Take old ones in and they`l make them for you, mine are all flexy and 400 bar, $42 the lot, end of problem.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

If you go the hydro shop route, don't tell em it's for a car...most won't do car stuff (no DOT approval) so just tell them it's for a forklift or fishing boat.

[Evan]

hey I was wondering what happened to ya... has it been a year since you were in MD?

[RX7guy]

hey I was wondering what happened to ya... has it been a year since you were in MD?

Evan, year and a half since I bought the car. Time flies huh


Guys, I'm sorry, my question is about the difficulty concerning the installation on the M60 V8 since there is no room in the engine bay. I'm not gonna make the hoses myself.

[Evan]

get a couple estimates... how is your car running.. what have you done since you bought it?

[Tiger]

Are you talking about high side pressure or the low side pressure hose? High side is from pump to the steering box... the low side is from pump to the reservoir... two different things.

[Bruce H]

The hoses are DIY, just got done doing them on my car. Will you want to do them? That really depends on your time and patience level. A fair amount of disassembly/ reassembly is required which takes time. :) :) :)

Before you do this make sure it is not just a loose clamp. But if you need to replace a hose then depending on which hoses are leaking you need to do the following:

If it is the two little hoses under the brake booster then you need go in from the front of the car.

1. pull grill and bumper off the car ( you might get by leaving the bumper, but is comes off easy and gives a lot of room to work)
2. remove the left headlight assembly ( for one screw small hands help)
3. remove the cruise control parts off the top of the cruise control bracket ( there are 3 nuts, on one I had to use an ignition wrench, just was not much room.)
4. remove the cruise control bracket
5. finally easy access to the hoses
6. remove bolts fastening the PS cooler to the front of the car, and a second bracket next to the 2 hose sections.
7. cut off hose sections and install new.
8. and as the manuals like to say, reassembly is just the reverse

If is any of the hoses between the engine and the framerail:

1. pull engine beauty cover
2. remove electrical box for left side injectors
3. remove plug coils
4. remove valve cover
5. drain PS system ( remove covers under engine and then remove plug in the PS pump.)
6. remove PS fluid reservoir
7. the return line from the PS cooling loop is easy to access at this point
8. since I replaces all the hoses at this point I pulled the alternator ( that is a joy on a 540, removing the oil filter canister that traps in the alternator takes a while to remove) and the PS pump. If you just need to replace the line from the PS box to the cooler line you might not have to do this. ( depends on if you can get the heat shield cover over the PS box off.
9. remove the heat shield over the PS box. There is a nut on the top in the front ( with alternator and PS pump out this was easy to get to) and a couple of nuts on the back of the PS box that hold a bracket for one of the hoses and the heat shield on.
10. remove hose bolts from top of PS box. A set of extensions and a universal joint needed here.
11. and again just reassemble


9.

[gale]

They discussed power steering hoses at one of the BMW CCA tech sessions at the dealer. They said it's almost always the low pressure side that leaks (the reservoir hoses.The high pressure hoses on mine were still in good condition but the low pressure hoses had petrified.

This is from my m30 but yours should be generically similar. I just did the repair last Saturday. I bought the new swaged line at AutohausAZ & the other smaller line I got at Napa for $3, SAE 1019J transmission cooler hose which exceeds the OEM low pressure ps hose spec.

I replaced the power steering fluid reservoir too, $18.50 and replacing the whole thing is the only way to change filter for an m30. Not sure which one they use on m60's, it might have a separate replaceable element(?). I drained & flushed the power steering fluid & filled it up with Amsoil ATF (full synthetic Dexron substitute). Steering is smoother & quieter and greatly reduced the slight chatter/vibration in slow tight turns. If you have the front up on jackstands and turn the steering wheel from lock to lock a half dozen times with the engine off and the ps lines disconnected, it will purge most of the old fluid out of the system.

Before:
http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/psrl1.jpg

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/psrl2.jpg

After:
http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/psrl3.jpg

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/psrl4.jpg

No leaks -- if it doesn't leak with full synthetic ATF, it should stay that way for awhile.

[Bruce H]

Gale thanks for the pics. Same concept and even approx location of hoses on the m60, just they are buried under other things. It's easy enough work, just consumes a lot of time on the m60 getting down to the issue. From what I saw on mine I would have agree on the low side hoses being the issue. I most likely had the worst case m60 as I have ABS and AST+C both. Those and the moved to the front brake booster all m60s have to work around.

[Super90]

It really helps to have small hands on this job. I decided this was one of the few jobs where my bit paws were going to be a difficulty and let my indy do it. Not much I turn over to them, but I was really busy and just didn't have time to take it on then. It is doable, but a lot of work.

Heck, the guy the have do these is about five foot none and weighs about a buck o' five. He has nice small hands and can knock it out far easier.

The bad news is you can expect to do them again in five years time. It's basically the same schedule as radiators, water pumps and t-stat housings on the M60.....

[Ross]

Hey Gale, What does the other side of that engine bay look like these days?

[RX7guy]

Bruce, nice write-up thanks. I tightened the clamps up by the reservoir, but I don't think that's where the major leak is at.

Ah well, I can't find the power steering leak anyway because everything on that side of the engine is covered in engine oil.... Is that the valve cover gasket?