[s-cars] Hydraulic fluid hose leak

[Mike Claire]

Chuck:  I just went thru the same exact thing.  Let me save you a little
time and frustration.  I sent my hose to Spokane HOH for a rebuild, and
worked directly with Jay.  Bottom line is that the hose was not only very
noisy, but the steering would groan and skip very badly - it was just plain
unusable.  Jay was very responsive and tried to help.  He said there was an
inner hose of some kind that he said was worn and could not be reused.  He
didn't refer to it as a restrictor, something that is frequently discussed
in J-Hose issues.

Anyway, he tried sending me a restrictor orifice, that didn't work, and he
cheerfully refunded my money, including shipping.  No hard feelings.  I
bought a used hose from Chris at Force 5 for about the same money (roughly
$75).  That worked fine, and now all is well.


Mike

On 6/22/06, Charles Rose <everett2487 at adelphia.net> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> I noticed a leak the other day coming from the bottom of my car and I
> thought it was oil but after closer inspection and the fact that only my
> hydraulic fluid level is low I am assuming its hydraulic fluid.  I found
> the
> leak coming from a hose connection right under the intake hose connection
> to
> the intake manifold.  I believe this is the hose that connects the
> hydraulic
> pump and the power steering rack, the leak is on the pump side of the hose
> where it connects to the metal fitting.  I have taken a few pictures so it
> can be verified that this is in fact correct.
>
> http://i4.tinypic.com/15cj0ae.jpg
>
> http://i4.tinypic.com/15cj23a.jpg
>
> http://i4.tinypic.com/15cj2bt.jpg
>
> In the first picture the arrow labeled number 1 points to the hose
> connection to the metal fitting that is leaking. Arrow 2 points to where
> the
> hose connects to a metal fitting on the other end and arrow 3 points to
> where that metal fitting connects (which I believe is the power steering
> rack).  Pictures 2 and 3 give close ups to where the leak is.  I checked
> through the knowledge base and came across an article in the v8 section
> that
> seems to be very similar to my situation -
> http://www.audifans.com/twiki/bin/view/Audi/HydraulicHoses
>
> In that article the person got his hose rebuilt for what seems to be a
> very
> reasonable price compared to buying a replacement from the dealer $250+ in
> his case.  What I need to know is if my situation is in fact similar to
> this
> one, which means that an audi replacement hose is a last resort and having
> my hose rebuilt by the same company he suggested is ideal.
>
> Also what is involved with removing/installing one of these hoses are
> there
> special tools/connectors/seals or anything else needed? It seems to me
> that
> a hydraulic hose carrying a lot of pressure must have a pretty secure
> connection to keep from leaking.  However I really do not have any
> experience or knowledge when it comes to hydraulic hoses/connections so
> ANY
> information on this subject is appreciated and the sooner the better since
> I
> don't really want to risk this leak getting worse and probably won't be
> driving much or at all this I remedy this problem.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Chuck
>
> 1993 S4
>
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