Power Steering Pressure Hose Replacement

ONLY for ADVANCED technical discussion about the 240sx!
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positron1
Posts: 3610
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:29 am
Car: Project: 1993 Nissan 240SX Coupe SR
Daily: 2010 Honda Civic Coupe
Location: Starkville, MS.

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I noticed one day how hard it was to turn the wheel at slow speeds and it hit me that my power steering was gone. I wanted to find out why so I checked and it turns out that there was a leak along the power steering pressure hose. Being the cheap @$$ that I am I tried to fix it for less cash by going to the junkyard and yanking a pressure hose off a junker 240SX. Cost me $10. The pressure hose came off the junk car with ease but taking off my own pressure hose was not so easy. I rounded off the hardline to pressure hose fitting and when I finally got the hardline fitting off the leaking hose and on the junkyardpressure hose the fitting was so beat up that it leaked...curses!!! To fix it I finally decided to buy a new pressure hose($150) but today I got bored and so I went the junkyard and pulled yet another pressure hose, this time with the hardline connected, cost me $20.

Tools needed:10mm wrench14mm wrench16mm wrenchCrescent wrenchHammerDrain panPhillips screwdriverFlathead screwdriverPrybar

My car didn't have emissions components so there was a lot of room to work with where the power steering hardlines are. If you have emissions then removing them for the time being will give you more room to manuever.

The first thing I did was take off my air filter to free up some more elbow room.Then, you disconnect the power steering harness. Now would also be a good time to put a drain pan under the area for any fluid present in the system to drain to.Now you need to remove the bracket that is holding the P/S hardlines near your rack and pinion to the frame of the car. You need a10mm wrench to remove a bolt tucked under the bracket. The bolt is very small and hard to see but it's there.Now you can move the hardlines around if you need to...and you will.After that, you need the 16mm wrench to remove the larger hardline so that you can get to the smaller hardline which is on the new old P/S pressure hose. After unscrewing the larger hardline you can move it out the way which now gives you enough room to remove the smaller hardline with a 14mm wrench. TAKE CARE NOT TO ROUND OFF THESE FITTINGS, THAT IS A NO NO!!! On my car they came off with very little effort thank goodness! After three turns with the wrench I could unscrew them with my fingers. You may need a pry bar to pop them out of the rack and pinion. Next, take the bracket and the bushing that keep the hardlines mounted to the frame off. You can use a flathead screwdriver to pry the bracket apart.The bracketThe bushingNext, you need to remove the bracket on the pressure hose that mounts it to the tension rod bracket. Use a phillips screwdriver.Now, you need to remove the P/S banjo bolt. You can use a wrench or a socket for this but I didn't have a wrench that big and it was really on tight so I pinched it hard with a pair of vice grips and whacked it one good time with a 3 lb. hammer to bust it loose. Would not advise this.Take the banjo bolt off and you can take the entire P/S pressure hose and hardline out. The hard part is finished. Putting a pressure hose back on is easy just reverse what you did to take it off. Take the new old pressure hose and manuever it into place. Put the banjo bolt back on to hold it at the top. Before mounting the hardline bracket you need to put the hardlines back onto the bushing/bracket and insert them into the rack and pinion. Now you can tighten the hardline bracket/bushing back to the frame and the one on the tension rod bracket back into place. The banjo bolt is to be torqued to 36-51 ft. lbs. Plug the power steering harness back up and add power steering fluid to the system then bleed it by slowly turning the wheel to both sides, full rotation, while adding fluid to fill the resevoir. I've read that you could use automatic transmission fluid but I still don't know why...anybody? Check for leaks. If everything is ok then you should have your power steering back. Enjoy the drive.Finished.

The power steering on the 240SX can be a pain if it starts to leak. Depending on where your leak is determines how much of a hassle your're going to have and how much money you're going to spend. If you have a leak in the small pressure hoses or the resevoir you can simply cut a new section or find another resevoir at the junkyard for pennies on the dollar. Also, a leaky or busted P/S pump is not at all hard to replace but getting the belt on and off is not a fun way to spend an afternoon. A minor inconvienience would be what happened to me, a leak somewhere along the pressure hose, then you can simply replace the pressure hose and hardline. A leak anywhere else would be a PITA which would probably require you to buy the $400 P/S hose system or a new rack and pinion...have fun with that! One more thing, the parts you get from a junkyard can be golden, you would be surprised at how good of condition these parts are in, although nothing beats getting a completely new part. The money that I saved yesterday I can put towards something else like the suspension upgrades or new tires. Giddyup!!!

Modified by positronone at 10:34 AM 4/10/2007
Modified by positronone at 10:37 AM 4/10/2007


vancouverbc
Posts: 3197
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2003 1:30 am
Car: 1991 240sx

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Nice job:) Thanks for posting.

RICERMAN
Posts: 223
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 6:36 pm

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Great pictures. Better than many Ive seen in real car repair manuals that you have to buy......nice job

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gripstr
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Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:14 pm
Car: Street Legal s13

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borat: very nice!

i have the same problem....i am hoping its not the ps pump.......

thanks alot bro...will definitaly give this a try....

Timeless240
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 5:12 am

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Which of these replacement lines should i get? The exact hose/line that is being replaced in the OP's post is the same exact one I need replaced due to a leak. I'm unfamiliar with this and would appreciate it if someone can confirm for me if these 3 replacement part links would be what i need. Thanks.

1. ($100+ship) "ISIS high pressure hose" - from enjuku http://www.enjukuracing.com/is....html

links to 2. and 3. here: http://www.rockauto.com/catalo...,7320

2. ($67.79 from rockauto.com) "BECK/ARNLEY Part # 1092098 "

3. ($88.79 from rockauto.com) "EDELMANN Part # 71872 {Pressure Line Assembly; 14mm Female Inverted Flare x 16mm Banjo x 26 1/2"}W/2-Wheel Stg."

----Questions:

Comparing 2. and 3. , the EDELMAN looks to have a 'banjo' bolt similar to the stock OEM one, but the BECK ARNLEY one looks dissimilar.

The ISIS one look super sturdy being an aftermarket part... but the connectors don't look anything like the stock hose, especially the banjo bolt.

Can someone please help me shed some light on this? Thanks.

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Sleeper_RMS13
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Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:21 am
Car: 91 FB W/Blacktop SR

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If you have the money def get the isis line. It eliminates all those crappry lines and makes it look cleaner. Its kinda like removing the clutch damper box but for ps instead. search for isis ps line and theres an install here on nico.

Timeless240
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 5:12 am

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thanks for the reply. I went with the NICO FABBED Fujii SPL line made by DJButton in the NICO fabricators thread for about $80. I'm going to attempt to install it myself this coming week. Still, the pictures in this thread are still the clearest install pics i've seen and will be coming backto it for reference. thanks again, OP.

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pc240sx
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Car: 90 240sx
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thanks x the help! i just replace my ..peace

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nismobenzo
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Car: 240sx

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great writeup..will be using this over the weekend

Mercury_Hg
Posts: 274
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 9:36 pm
Car: 1993 240SX Coupe

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Just did this.

Getting the top bracket off is a nightmare if you've got an ac line + emissions.

Will update this post later, bed time right now. :eek:

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positron1
Posts: 3610
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:29 am
Car: Project: 1993 Nissan 240SX Coupe SR
Daily: 2010 Honda Civic Coupe
Location: Starkville, MS.

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Man don't you know it's a pain with those lines and stuff in there...good luck bro!

Mercury_Hg
Posts: 274
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 9:36 pm
Car: 1993 240SX Coupe

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positron1 wrote:Man don't you know it's a pain with those lines and stuff in there...good luck bro!
I do now, lol! It was hell. I tore the top bracket all up.

I have a question! The only reason for removing the hardline brackets was because the OP replaced his power steering hose and his hardline at the same time, right?

So for people in the future just replacing the hose, all they really have to do is take the hardline off the PS hose, and remove the banjo bolt? If so we might want to do another write up. Unless the hardline won't move enough to get it off the PS hose, otherwise I see no reason for the extra steps. Someone let me know!

Beowulf22
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Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 6:21 pm

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Just went through this myself. Yes, the bottom bracket is a NIGHTMARE if you have A/C and emissions. I would recommend taking the pipe off that goes from the exhaust manifold over to a box up top near the air filter. I didn't have a wrench big enough, and wasn't sure if it would budge from the exhaust manifold anyway if I did.

But to answer the last poster's question, I believe you have to (or are intended to) replace the hard line and soft line at the same time. Just like the original poster, I rounded off the nut on my hard to soft line fitting. I ended up cutting the hard line and putting a socket on the end of it....a 1/2" drive socket....with a breaker bar...to finally get the nut off and it was hard all the way out. Then I went to order a new one from courtesynissan.com and realized that they sell the hard/soft line as one piece. I wish I had realized that before nearly tearing a ligament trying to get that damn fitting loose.

Beowulf22
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Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 6:21 pm

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For future generations reading this who need to get that power steering line bracket off between the frame and the crossmember with the bolt thats damn near impossible to reach (especially if you still have A/C and emissions), do yourself a HUGE favor.....loosen the 12mm bolt connecting the steering column to the rack, support the left side of the crossmember with a floor jack, and remove the two bolts holding the crossmember to the frame. Now GENTLY lower the crossmember about 1" and the impossible to reach bolt/bracket is now easily accessible from the wheel well! It took me about 3 days to get the bracket out, and it looked like it was going to be even worse getting it back in until I discovered this. Turned a 3 day job into a 30 minute job for me.


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