Sorry, but High Pressure P/S line help...?

[johnny butt]

After getting tired of the moaning noise my RB P/S pump has been making lately, I opted to have DJ Button make me a new high pressure power steering line. I have an S13 chassis with an RB25 in it, using the RB25 power steering pump, but currently, the High Pressure Power steering line is a DOHC KA line.

pic of the new line and some misc. parts:



However, my only problem now is that the old power-steering line doesn't seem to want to come off or I am not using the right parts to take it off...

Here are some pictures and descriptions of what I am doing for clarity...

In this photo, I have outlined the P/S adjuster bracket in red. This bracket (In red) is in my way of the 15/16" bolt loosening (in blue). This makes me think I am trying to disconnect this line from the pump the wrong way...I bent the bracket out of the way slightly, but shortly afterwards noticed the rest of the line will hit the top portion of the bracket anyway:



------also a better photo with a different angle...

In this photo the red and blue are still circling the same things, but the yellow is pointing to where I think the line should disconnect (From what it looks like in this: http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=178549), but I can't get it to budge:



Also, since I have DJ Button's line, the hardline/sensor are getting deleted and I am just running his line straight to the steering rack. However, I am having a problem getting to the correct part of the hardline to unbolt from the rack. Here is what I have pictured and labeled:



In the photo above, I followed the hard line to what I believe to be the blue fitting in the picture. The red one, however, is one I am removing just to get better clearance to the blue-outlined fitting. Is this correct? If so, does anyone have any better advice on how to get to the blue-outlined fitting so I can remove that part?

Once I get the old line off, putting the new one on should be a breeze...

Thanks.
Modified by johnny butt at 12:32 PM 2/21/2009

[positron1]

That is indeed correct! When I pulled my high pressure line to replace it I had to remove that line in order to gain access to the one that I needed to replace. If I remember correctly, one is a 10 and one is a 12mm, so get a line wrench.

[4cefed]

Maybe I'm a little confused, but I'll try and help. Are you replacing the power steering pump with a different one? Is the new pump not compatible with the current line and that's why you had another made?

The blue outlined bolt head in the second picture is a banjo fitting bolt. The center of the bolt is hollow and there will be a few holes drilled across the bolt letting fluid flow through the center of the bolt, through the holes and into the banjo fitting part of the high pressure line. Remove this bolt to disconnect the high pressure power steering line from the pump. Edit: There are probably a few copper crush washers on either side of the fitting. As a rule they should be replace with new ones, although I usually get away with re-using them, just look for leaks if you use them again.

In the second pic, the blue arrow is pointing to what looks like an extension to the pump side banjo fitting. This does not need to be disconnected unless you need it for the new pump or line somehow.

The yellow arrow is pointing to an elbow in the line. There is nothing to disconnect here. (Unless you want to disconnect more money from you wallet.)

In the third pic it looks like you are on the right track by disconnecting the top line to get more room. I don't know if I've looked at my rack enough to tell you which one is which, so I'll take your word for it when you say the bottom one (blue) is the one you need to take off. If a flare wrench won't help, sometimes I've had to resort to vice grips to remove line like this. Use the jagged inner part of the gripping area on the nut and adjust it so it takes both hands and all your strength to close the vice grips. Then turn.

One more thing. Is that the new line you are using in the first pic? I'm not sure you have the right ends on the line. The best thing to do in these cases are take the old line out first and have it in hand to bring somewhere to have another made. It looks like the new line may not have a banjo fitting so in that case, you could remove the extension I mentioned earlier.

Thanks for using good pics and outlining stuff, that save a lot of confusion.

*Disclainer: I have never even seen an RB25, take this info as general car knowledge.

[johnny butt]

Maybe I'm a little confused, but I'll try and help. Are you replacing the power steering pump with a different one? Is the new pump not compatible with the current line and that's why you had another made?

I am replacing the High Pressure Power Steering line (It's currently a DOHC KA line mated to an RB25 PS pump). I am keeping the pump the same, and the only thing I am changing out is the high-pressure line because the one I have now has a hole in it and is leaking ATF all over the place. DJ Button has made several Power Steering lines for RB25 Swapped S13s before, so I purchased one from him (Rated at 5000 PSI compared to ~1500).

Quote »The blue outlined bolt head in the second picture is a banjo fitting bolt. The center of the bolt is hollow and there will be a few holes drilled across the bolt letting fluid flow through the center of the bolt, through the holes and into the banjo fitting part of the high pressure line. Remove this bolt to disconnect the high pressure power steering line from the pump. Edit: There are probably a few copper crush washers on either side of the fitting. As a rule they should be replace with new ones, although I usually get away with re-using them, just look for leaks if you use them again. [/quote]Yeah, I figured I was supposed to remove that bolt, but my question is: How exactly? Every time I use a ratchet + socket or wrench to remove it, all I get is it twisting until it hits the bracket and stops. Then I can't go anymore without bending the bracket out of the way and tangling the line up. Is this normal or is there another way to remove that line / banjo fitting from the pump?

Quote »In the second pic, the blue arrow is pointing to what looks like an extension to the pump side banjo fitting. This does not need to be disconnected unless you need it for the new pump or line somehow.[/quote] So, following the second picture, I am only going to need to remove the 15/16" bolt with the blue '?' on it? Either way, both parts I have labeled in blue in the second picture spin the same way at the same time when I start to loosen them.

Quote »The yellow arrow is pointing to an elbow in the line. There is nothing to disconnect here. (Unless you want to disconnect more money from you wallet.)[/quote]No, I don't really care for it, I just didn't know how to remove the Hi-pressure line from the pump.

Quote »In the third pic it looks like you are on the right track by disconnecting the top line to get more room. I don't know if I've looked at my rack enough to tell you which one is which, so I'll take your word for it when you say the bottom one (blue) is the one you need to take off. If a flare wrench won't help, sometimes I've had to resort to vice grips to remove line like this. Use the jagged inner part of the gripping area on the nut and adjust it so it takes both hands and all your strength to close the vice grips. Then turn.[/quote]I have gotten the first line removed, but I can't get it pulled out enough to actually move it and get it out of the way. Any suggestions? I don't want to go bending/breaking more hard lines that I will just have to replace.

Quote »One more thing. Is that the new line you are using in the first pic? I'm not sure you have the right ends on the line. The best thing to do in these cases are take the old line out first and have it in hand to bring somewhere to have another made. It looks like the new line may not have a banjo fitting so in that case, you could remove the extension I mentioned earlier. [/quote]I think I'm still going to have to use the extension, the blue-capped part of the line looks like it has extra fittings and is positioned to bolt into the extension. The red-capped part of the line looks like it plugs into the hard rack. The line was made and sent to me by DJ Button for an RB25 swapped S13 chassis, so I trust that the fittings are right. Only way for me to find out for sure is to remove the old line and try to plug them up...

**edit: I'm not sure if the red-capped part of the line, or the blue capped part of the line goes on to the pump. I was looking at these pics for reference: zerothread?id=307781 , and my stuff looks somewhat different. I still think it goes like this though:red cap - steering rackblue cap - P/S pump.

Quote »Thanks for using good pics and outlining stuff, that save a lot of confusion.

*Disclainer: I have never even seen an RB25, take this info as general car knowledge. [/quote]No problem, it was much easier to explain with pictures anyway. Also, the RB25 Power steering lines are basically the same as the DOHC KA lines, it's just that all of the DOHC KA lines I found were like my original ones, ~20 years old, and likely to get a hole. That is the biggest reason for me getting a 5000 PSI rated line.

Thanks for the help so far.

Modified by johnny butt at 12:43 PM 2/21/2009
Modified by johnny butt at 12:57 PM 2/21/2009

[johnny butt]

sorry for the double post but I wanted to clear some things up. removed the part close to the P/S pump (banjo fitting).

The hard line is the only one I can't seem to remove because of the line in the way.

[4cefed]

Sounds like the pump extension piece loosened up before the banjo bolt loosened up. Sucks when that happens. So you got that part off? I'm not sure what needs to go back on, so now that it's out I would separate the extension piece from the line.

My memory is a little fuzzy, but you might be able to take off the bolts that hold the steering rack to get some space to remove that top line. Not sure if you would have to unbolt the universal from the steering column.

Those steel lines can take bit of manhandling before something bad happens, it looks like you almost had it out.