power steering leaking at rack.... need help on replacing "o" rings..

The return hoses are all low pressure and are most commonly secured to the pump and associated plumbing with worm gear hose clamps. After a while they will frequently soften up at the end where they are clamped, and should be replaced. The auto parts store will sell you hose by the foot and it takes about 3 feet or less, depending if you have the fluid cooler in the low pressure side of the line.

Each hose uses an O ring on each end to seal them. The hoses will swivel when they are installed and tightened into place. That is why there are O rings on the fittings. The O ring is the part that actually makes the pressure seal. If you slide the nut all the way back as far as it will go, you will see the O ring and the groove cut into the center section of the fitting.


Sometimes you will get some white Teflon rings with the pump or rack. The rings go on the threaded part of the fitting to reduce or prevent small leaks. They are not meant to seal the pressure part of the line or substitute for the rubber O ring. Heat the white Teflon seals in hot water and they will be easier to install. You can install the fittings without them and not have any leaks if the O rings seal good.

You may find it is easier to drop the rack down to get to the hose fittings. 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. I replaced the rack mount bushings with some Energy Suspension urethane ones. When you re-install the rack assembly, put the rear bushings in the rack assembly and lift it into place. Then install the front bushings & washers and tighten down the nuts. Doing it this way makes room for the hydraulic lines without having them bind against the frame.

I don't think a crowfoot will be much help, since you realy can't get at it from the top. Last time I did it, I used a 11/16" offset angle open end wrench. One open end was at a 45 degree angle and the other was 60 degrees, or something like that.

93 LX said:

I take that you were talking about the rack attaching bolts for my corwfoot question. I was referring to the line connections to the rack. If I am going to reseal or replace the "o" rings i m going to do all 5 connections. My friend siad he used a crowsfoot to get the lines disconnected. I have seen regualr open end ones and flair ends like used on brake lines. Can you help in this regard? I was looking to what size or sizes should I get.

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No, I was speaking of the hydraulic fittings, which are 11/16".

I looked at the area above the rack and it is covered by the motor mount & K member. Before you spend any money on crowfoot wrenches, go look at the driver's side motor mount and the streering rack lines from the top. You cannot see the area where the lines enter the rack assembly.

It takes 20 minutes to get the car up on jackstands. Do not attempt to do this job without good jackstands.

It takes 20 minutes to disconnect the steering joint (rag joint). WD40 is your friend, so squirt the 2 rag joint coupler bolts with plenty of it. Do not attempt to disconnect the rag joint from the rack by removing the clamp joint bolt. It is hard to get apart and hard to align and put back together.

It takes 10 minutes to remove the two mount bolts that secure the steering rack to the k member.

10 minutes to remove the front rubber bushings and washers from the rack to K member mount so that you can slide the rack foward and then down.
You do not need to disconnect the rack from the tie rod ends, or remove the tie rod ends from the steering knuckles.

It takes 5 minutes per hydraulic line to disconnect them from the rack. Get a catch pan to dump the fluid in when you disconnect the hydraulic lines.

Total disassembly time roughly 1 1/2 hour, allowing time for some of the bolts to be rusty or hard to turn...

Figure a little more to reinstall and you have 2 3/4 to 3 hours total time. It you have an impact wrench, subtract 20-30 minutes from the total time

93 LX said:

My car is lowered, Should I install offset bushings? If so is the offset up or down?

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Mark the bushings and the socket they fit in with a scribe or paint mark once you remove the washer that covers them. Note which direction the marks line up.

If that won't work for you, check the bushing manufacturer's web site for installation instructions. See Prothane, Automotive Polyurethane Bushings and Polyurethane Performance Products and hunt around the site.

If you do offset bushings, I would steer clear of poly (pun intended).

And with solid offset bushings, you generally have to cut the sleeve and be sure the K's receptacle is true and imperfection free (since there's nothing soft to accomodate imperfections anymore).

Good luck.

Jusr curious, how close was the repair time estimate I posted?