M60 power steering hose

[h2oyo]

Hello all,
I spent all day Saturday changing out a water pump on my 95 540i. Its not that it is hard job but removing the spin on fan that can become frustrating. Now that it is fixed and running great I would like to replace my leaking power steering hoses. I have ordered the hoses and figured since i'm going to do it I will just change them all. My question is i have read about how very difficult it is to change these on the M60. I seen this doing searches about how to change them. I have the manual but I was wondering if anyone here has been through it and has any pointers or a walk through on this job. I want to thank everyone for the wonderful help that has been given in the past.
Johan

[Elekta]

My only concern for you diy is that if these hoses are not tight and positioned perfectly the one that is closest to the alternator has been known to jump or wiggle into it under load and a left hand turn and it shorts out your battery...if not total engine fire from the red lead just frying and smoking. This happened to me after a poor repair of one or the other (as I had done valley gaskets, then alternator, then hoses last over a short period of time..not really sure which was wrong) and is a very scary situation that you really have to be on your game to turn the car off and open the hood and put a potential fire out, not to mention that the battery is usually under a childs safety seat.

I know it's happened to one or more v8 owners and is written up in the archives somewhere back in 03-04

[yaofeng]

I will not reiterate what a PIA to do the PS hoses on the M60, something you already know, except to say study hard and remember the exact routing each hose goes. Take pictures if you have to. These include the hoses to and from the oil filter housing. Each of them hoses goes in a specific way from the origin to the destination.

No. I have never done it with the engine in car. I did with the engine removed during the 6 speed conversion.

[KBarcellos]

I did the reservoir to pump hose replacement a few months ago, huge PITA and really pretty much impossible to either remove the old hose or get the new one in position without bending the mounting tab on the metal portion of the hose back so that it can clear the tiny space that it needs to be snaked through. Obviously this presents a problem with the replacement as you need to get the tab re-bent so that it can be attached to the block. I wish I had taken some pictures as I was doing this, but at the time all I could think of was about how I would like to waterboard the engineer who came up with such nonsense.....

[Ross]

but at the time all I could think of was about how I would like to waterboard the engineer who came up with such nonsense.....

This gets my vote for post of the day

[Mr._Graybeard]

Johan, I'd suggest replacing the lower-pressure return hoses before touching the high-pressure stuff. They're a lot cheaper to replace and more likely to be the leakers, I believe, as they're held in place with standard hose clamps.

The tough ones to get to are the two short pieces of hose that connect the cooling loop to the system. They're under the brake booster, mounted on the frame rail on an LHD car. You'll have to remove the grille, headlight unit and cruise control actuator to get to them. Even then they're a pain to replace, but at least they cost next to nothing.

Perhaps the extended exposure to hot fluid hardens and shrinks them -- on my car I could rotate the hoses while they were mounted to the tubes with the factory clamps. Of course, they leaked badly, and spilled fluid onto the frame rail under the brake booster (which probably saved it from rusting after the master cylinder grommets leaked brake fluid in the same area and ate up the paint).

I believe there was an excellent how-to writeup in the archives, but now I can't find it. But you can see how things go together using the parts illustrations at realoem.com.

Another potential spot for leakage is where the return line connects to the power steering reservoir. Some folks just trim off the cracked end of the hose and reattach it with satisfactory results. If the reservoir is original, you may want to replace it -- the unit has a non-renewable filter.

[shogun]

Usually they leak from under the Pentosin container, here a pic, there are clamps
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/155935/
I replaced all my hydraulic hoses, recrimped them with the original BMW steel parts in a hydraulic shop. Here the old hose and the cut off old crimp sleeve
http://img50.imageshack.us/my.php?im...lauch136mn.jpg
And here are the connections ON the pump, that are banjo bolts, and here you can see a broken banjo bolt, which I removed from my 750 Highline, the previous owner tightened the bolts too much and they broke and it leaked
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/124919/
I replaced the broken banjo bolts and the copper rings and no more leak then.

[Jehu]

Johan, I'd suggest replacing the lower-pressure return hoses before touching the high-pressure stuff. They're a lot cheaper to replace and more likely to be the leakers, I believe, as they're held in place with standard hose clamps.

The tough ones to get to are the two short pieces of hose that connect the cooling loop to the system. They're under the brake booster, mounted on the frame rail on an LHD car. You'll have to remove the grille, headlight unit and cruise control actuator to get to them. Even then they're a pain to replace, but at least they cost next to nothing.

Perhaps the extended exposure to hot fluid hardens and shrinks them -- on my car I could rotate the hoses while they were mounted to the tubes with the factory clamps. Of course, they leaked badly, and spilled fluid onto the frame rail under the brake booster (which probably saved it from rusting after the master cylinder grommets leaked brake fluid in the same area and ate up the paint).

I believe there was an excellent how-to writeup in the archives, but now I can't find it. But you can see how things go together using the parts illustrations at realoem.com.

Another potential spot for leakage is where the return line connects to the power steering reservoir. Some folks just trim off the cracked end of the hose and reattach it with satisfactory results. If the reservoir is original, you may want to replace it -- the unit has a non-renewable filter.

I have this exact issue... If you find that write up It'd help me take care of mine. I have new clamps and assumed I'd have to go in thru the grill/headlight but hadn't realized the cruise control actuator was in the way too.. thanks for posting.. I recenl'ty replaced the hose clamps under the reseviour and still get leaks to I think the spout necks may have hairline cracks perhaps from overtightening the hose clamps or the hoses are weeping though they look intact.

[h2oyo]

Johan, I'd suggest replacing the lower-pressure return hoses before touching the high-pressure stuff. They're a lot cheaper to replace and more likely to be the leakers, I believe, as they're held in place with standard hose clamps.

The tough ones to get to are the two short pieces of hose that connect the cooling loop to the system. They're under the brake booster, mounted on the frame rail on an LHD car. You'll have to remove the grille, headlight unit and cruise control actuator to get to them. Even then they're a pain to replace, but at least they cost next to nothing.

Perhaps the extended exposure to hot fluid hardens and shrinks them -- on my car I could rotate the hoses while they were mounted to the tubes with the factory clamps. Of course, they leaked badly, and spilled fluid onto the frame rail under the brake booster (which probably saved it from rusting after the master cylinder grommets leaked brake fluid in the same area and ate up the paint).

I believe there was an excellent how-to writeup in the archives, but now I can't find it. But you can see how things go together using the parts illustrations at realoem.com.

Another potential spot for leakage is where the return line connects to the power steering reservoir. Some folks just trim off the cracked end of the hose and reattach it with satisfactory results. If the reservoir is original, you may want to replace it -- the unit has a non-renewable filter.

OH man, I'm a bit worried about this now. I need this car as it is my daily driver. I sure dont want to have any fires. Maybe I should just do as you said and try to change the hoses' or clamps. I just dont want the car leaking the oil slick it is leaking now. I went through a quart of steering fluid in about 5 weeks. Not to mention the mess running across the air dam. It seems to leak only when parked, I'm going to try and get the area cleaned up well and see if I can find the leaking point. Thanks for all the help and i'll let you know how it turns out.
Johan

[shogun]

seems to leak only when parked, I'm going to try and get the area cleaned up well and see if I can find the leaking point. Thanks for all the help and i'll let you know how it turns out

.

Maybe you just filled too much fluid into the reservoir? When it is parked, and in case the car has LAD rear shocks, and the regulating valve at the rear is not 100% at zero mark, the fluid will return from the rear overnight into the reservoir and fill it.
Check the fluid in the reservoir when you park the car, and then on the next morning when you start the car.