Anyone replaced their power steering hose on a foxbody? Mine is leaking and I bought a new one yesterday. Didn't get a chance to start on it last night. Anyone have any words of advice before I start? It looks like it's going to be a pain.
When you take it off at the rack, used some compressed air and blow around the area before you take it apart. Next, when you break it loose, work it back and fourth, every few turns, this will ensure no breakage.
When I replaced mine, I did this because there was a lot of crap around there. You never want contaminated fluids. I also used WD40 just to be safe.
it's leaking around the fitting that goes into the pump. i took it loose and put a new O-ring on it, but it's still leaking terribly. I bought a new hose last night and I'm going to try that. Just wondering how big of a mess I'm looking at.
i hope so. this car has been sitting for a few weeks now. i built a fresh 306 for it back in march, got it in, running good. had brake problems, i have to push it to the floor to stop. i've bled the hell out of them. anyway get the motor in, take it out on a short trip to see how it runs. on the way home it starts getting hot, not really over heating just close to 200, maybe a little over. so i take it home and let it sit. i just put in an aluminum radiator and electric fan this weekend. i go to take it out to see if it runs cooler and notice smoke under the hood. quickly see that the pwr steering hose is leaking bad. seems like it is one thing after another. i probably shouldve bought something in better shape, but this was my first stang that i sold a couple years ago, and i've kicked myself ever since. its an 89 25th year anniversary. the wife loved it when we were dating, so i bought it back. the dude didnt take very good care of it, so i'm basically restoring it.
The high pressure line has O rings on both ends and will swivel even when the fitting is completely tightened. There are also some teflon rings that are for the threaded part of the fitting. If you replace them, heat them in boiling water first. That makes them easier to get on.
The pump O ring tends to leak unless you get the exactly right size O ring for it. Ford charges $9 for an O ring and seal kit, so some effort at the local auto parts store is worth while. The pump O ring is a 5/16" O ring, not a metric O ring. The rack end hose fittings may be very hard to get a wrench on so it may be easier to drop the rack.
The flex coupling for the steering shaft needs to be disconnected before you can get the rack out. You should disassemble the coupling by undoing the 2 bolts that hold it together. Remove the two bolts that bolt the rack assembly to the frame and then pull the rack down. Get a catch pan to dump the fluid in when you disconnect the hydraulic lines.
Buy several extra quarts of fluid to run through the system to flush it when you change the hose. The car needs to be up on jackstands for the next step. Fill the pump up, start the car, and turn the wheels lock to lock to bleed the air out. Then stop the engine, disconnect the low pressure hose (the one that is secured with a hose clamp) and drain the pump. Re-connect, refill and do it several more times or until the fluid looks clear and not burnt or black.
thanks to all you guys who replied. I was able to get the new hose installed last night...what a job! I did it without dropping the rack, but it wasn't fun. I hope I never have to do that again!