[V6-12v] Re: High Pressure Power Steering Hose--Done! Long description for the archives

[Mike Veglia]

Thank you all again for the tips and encouragement. I
went for the "remove the brake booster" method per
several tips and the Bentley manual. Once the brake
booster is out of the way there is tons of room--more
than enough to get your hand in to thread the banjo
bolt back in! However, getting the brake booster out
is a major PITA! Remove everything you see in the way
first. There are a lot of expensive looking plastic
bits in that area of the engine bay just waiting for
you to break. For sake of archives and closure, here
are some tips I learned along the way:

1. Prepare the engine bay by removing plastic engine
cover, the hood prop, and propping the hood with a
broom stick, or something (yes, it really is that
tight getting the booster out and the other
obstruction is a much more difficult to move fuel
rail--which you really don't want to damage). Remove
the throttle body's airbox (just move up and out of
the way--be careful of the very fragile plastic
crankcase vent hoses that come from the heads--these
lock in place and you can see the knurled ares to
press/squeeze to release. Disconnect a bunch of vacuum
lines and three electrical connectors (a black and
blue pair on the firewall and a gray one on the Brake
Fluid Reservoir). Loosen the 8mm screw holding the
black/blue electrical connector to the firewall so it
can be rotated out of the way. Remove the Brake MC
(three nuts, two self-locking (30ft/lb, manual says
"always replace") and gingerly move up and towards the
middle of the engine bay being careful not to damage
the tiny little copper (?) tubing. Remove the vacuum
hose from the Brake Booster (it pulls out with some
persuasion). When it looks like the coast is clear to
extricate the Brake Booster (it still probably isn't)
move on to the next step...

2. Inside the car you need to remove the under dash
panels and the HVAC footwell duct. Once this is done
you can lay on your back in pain with a light to see
the four self-locking nuts (18ft/lb, manual says
"always replace") that secure the Brake Booster to the
Brake Pedal Box via the firewall. Remove the brake
pedal-to-Booster/MC fork clevis pin and retaining
clip. Remove the four aforementioned nuts. Call for
help to extricate yourself from the footwell of the
car (or just quit whining and climb out).

3. Pull, pound, yank, and curse the Brake Booster out.
This (and the reverse) is the most brutal part of the
entire job. There are things like engine, firewall,
engine bay bodywork, and a high pressure fuel line all
in the way--but by some miracle it will come
out--which is half the battle (wait 'till you have to
get it back in!).

4. The easiest part of the job, besides popping open
the celebratory beer at the end, is the actual hose
replacement--the reason you were going through all
this grief in the first place. That dreaded banjo bolt
you can only touch, barely see, and can't turn by hand
on the type 44 is sitting there in this vast wide open
space left behind by the Brake Booster. Undo the banjo
bolt (need two 14mm ID x 18MM OD washers, I used I5
drainplug seals cuz they were what the parts place had
in stock and were 14mm ID copper. Bentley manual sez
O-Rings or Copper Washers. My car (95 A6q Avant) had
Aluminum washers (which are called out in TFA as
well). I figured copper was okay though. The banjo
bolt felt much tighter than the 30ft/lb spec and did
require some provocation to get loose. A 19mm box end
proved to be the best weapon. The other end of the
hose is a tapered fitting in the middle of the right
cylinder bank with 17mm and 19mm fittings. Hold the
hose and loosen the fitting on the metal line. Install
the new hose with new washers and torque the banjo
bolt while holding the metal part of the new hose so
it doesn't rotate and contact the rack and/or other
items in that area.

5. Put everything you took apart back together. The
Brake Booster needed two people, one up under the dash
guiding the Brake Pedal Box holes and Brake MC fork
(14 year old sons come in handy here) and the other
forcing, pounding, and cursing the Brake Booster back
in place. Once past that it is all downhill. Top up
the green gold reservoir. Start the engine and do a
few rack-to-rack turns of the wheel, and check/top up
the green gold one more time. Crack open that
celebratory beer (Rouge Brewing Co Dead Guy Ale was
what my wonderful wife brought me).

In our case the PS pump was noisy at first, but once
the system bled itself out the pump quited down, but
may need changing soon. The job is very doable but do
allow some time and an assistant really helps for
getting the booster back in. HTH

=====
Mike Veglia
Motor Sport Visions Photography
http://www.motorsportvisions.com