Fixing a Leaking Power Steering Return Line

Fixing a leaking power steering return line

Recently I noticed that I was getting a film of power steering fluid over the driver’s side of my engine bay. The leak was traced to the crimped joint on the power steering return line indicated by the yellow arrow in the picture below.

Since this hose runs all the way to the other side of the car and would involve a lot of work and cost to replace I decide to repair the faulty section with the hose in situ.

You will need the following items.  A supply of old rags.  Tools to remove boost hoses.  Piece of replacement hose with 10mm id and clamps.  Die grinder, Dremel or equivalent.  Transmission fluid.

The first step is to remove all boost hoses to give you plenty of room. This will be easier on an NA than a TT but it still needs to be done. Once you remove the hoses make sure you plug the ends of the pipes with old rags to prevent any dirt or debris from getting in them. With the pipes out of the way you should have something like this. The arrow indicates the crimped seal that has started leaking due to the old rubber hose shrinking and hardening with age. This next picture shows the crimp slightly better and gives an idea of where it needs to be cut. What you need to do is cut through the pressed metal crimp but make sure you don’t go all the way through the rubber hose and into the hard pipe in the middle. The next bit is messy as power steering fluid will go everywhere, so probably best to drain and remove the reservoir before you start. Also a good idea to cover the surrounding area with some more rags to catch the fluid and metal filings created in the next step.

Take out your dremel/die grinder etc and cut away. Once you have cut through one side rotate the hose and cut through the opposing side. Once you have done that the crimped section should be easy to remove with a pair of pliers and the hose just pulls off. The following two pictures show the hose cut through on one side and a picture of the removed hose and crimp, along with my trusty die grinder. Now all you need to do is clean up the mess, install the new piece of hose like this… And put all your pipes back together. Remember to remove all rags inserted into pipes and to top up the power steering fluid lost during the operation.

Words and pictures: WYKKED