Power steering pipe

Well if it's a rigid metal pipe then you can get that from the scrappys,= =

if it's a flexible bit then anywhere (e.g. Pirtek) who makes hydraulic =

hoses will make you one.

Wrap it with thin aluminium plate and then jubilee clips?

Or this stuff:

cut the pipe and use some suitable hose to rejoin it

The bodge I did to stop the powersteering pipe (cooling pipe?) from leaking hasn't worked.

It's a pipe that comes down from the PS pump, goes to the front of the car and then returns, having seemingly done nothing useful. Anyway, the pipe is sometimes rubber, sometimes metal, and the metal sections are very corroded and it's now leaking at one section.

I cleaned up the rust, then tried to stop the leak with a cunning combination of superglue, then some 'non-setting' gasket glue, then fuel hose split and jubilee clipped around it.

It's still weeping... I suspect it's v high pressure inside.

New pipe is £130!

The local ford dismantlers "dont keep any hoses mate, we just cut through them" eh? Maybe I described it wrongly and he misunderstood?

I havent tried a standard scrap yard yet, but will I need some new 'sealing washers' for each end anyway? Would I be able to buy them seperately?

Any other idea to bodge it? I'm not convinced by the 'non-setting' gasket glue. Would epoxy resin or chemical metal be worth a try. I'll be keeping the car for many more years so it needs to be a 'permanent' bodge to be worth it.

Try Yellow Pages, or ring around for a Co that makes hydraulic hoses to order or pattern. Doing that, I replaced two hyd hoses on one of my cars for less than half the price of OEM ones.

If you want to keep the car on the road in the meantime, you might be able to get a complete hose from a breakers. Wont matter if it's been cut, as long as it shows the length. Has both end fittings and any between. Mike.

Thanks guys.

Duncan: The pipe is about 6 foot long and consists of 5 alternating sections of hydraulic rubber and rigid metal. No luck at my 2 local Scrap yards.

Picture here:

Just out of interest, what is this pipe actually for? It goes from the PS pump and back, without seemingly doing anything! Somebody said it was to cool the fluid, but it doesnt go to a radiator or anything cooly*. There is a rubber section (on picture arrowed "what is this bit?") at its furthest point but I think that's just a mounting bush in the middle of the metal section.

Next plan is to try that Alfa (llfa?) tape mentioned by Paul.

If that fails then I'll try cutting the section out and replacing with fuel hose and jubilee clips. Altough I'm confident about that. Will this be adequate for the pressure?

Last option is a new pipe, but apart from the =A3130, it looks a nightmare to get the spanner in to the end-fittings.

Steve

*yes, that is a real word actually... ;-)

I'm pretty sure the reason for the pipes traversing the engine bay is for cooling and that the system relies on the pipework alone to dissipate enough heat. Perhaps the rubber bit is a bypass for an optional fluid cooler, only used on quicker models?

It looks as though the leak could originate from the joint between the steel pipe and the rubber piece, so it might be worth looking for a way to seperate the two. I'm guessing that this part of the system forms the return from the rack to the resevoir, so the pressure at this point should be relatively low. You never know, it might be something as cheap and simple as an O-ring?

Stu

After the pic was taken I cleaned up the pipe with solvent and sandpaper. The leak was coming from a random pit in the rust halfway along the straight section. Which makes me worry that the rest of the pipe may not be far behind rotting through. I worry that I might actually break the pipe as I try and put on that alfa tape really tight.

I'd suggest it might be worth trying some similar bore steel brake pipe

to form an 'approximately the same' pipe section, cutting the rubber hoses and joining them with jubilee clips. It's unlikely there'll be much pressure there. It also looks like the plastic bit in the middle of the loop is just a rubber shroud/piece to isolate the pipe from vibrations where it's clamped to the body mounts .. You could re-use all this by sliding it onto the new pipe before bending it .. maybe .. ;)

I'd also suggest a minor investment in a small bore pipe bender could be worthwhile, something like this ..

Would do the trick and won't break the bank.

Thanks Paul. Sounds like a good idea. That is now plan H if plan G, the Alfa tape doesn't work.

Nickname unavailable wrote: [Re: power steering pipe ]

Tell them how much a new one is and they might start keeping them!

& if they just cut through the hoses they'll probably sell you the metal bit for peanuts.