Advice on power steering hose replacements?

Jim Eh. · February 03, 2018, 05:42:49 AM

Applying open flame heat may not be a good idea. ATF or the marketing version "power steering fluid" is only a light grade of hydraulic fluid. Therefore the issue of flammability comes into play. If you try heat make sure you take the usual safety precautions:

- safety goggles
- fire extinguisher
- review of vehicle and life insurance policies

Oonrahnjay · February 03, 2018, 07:19:51 AM

Quote from: Jim Eh. on February 03, 2018, 05:42:49 AMApplying open flame heat may not be a good idea. ATF or the marketing version "power steering fluid" is only a light grade of hydraulic fluid. Therefore the issue of flammability comes into play. If you try heat make sure you take the usual safety precautions:

- safety goggles
- fire extinguisher
- review of vehicle and life insurance policies

The good news is that the fabric hose part is already shredded and most of the fluid should have leaked out. The bad news is that the fabric part of the hose shreadded and most of the fluid has leaked out. Yes, I agree-- be very careful there.

skytripping · February 03, 2018, 08:23:42 AM

Quick update - I was able to get the fittings loose and the hoses removed. I ended up getting them to budge with a combo of some blaster and careful application of a makeshift breaker bar setup I was able to get into the tight spot. The hoses are going in today for custom refits and the entire bay is going to get a good cleaning once the steering system is topped off and running again. Thanks for your encouragement and ideas. Once I get the floor inside the coach ripped up, I'll assess the state of the lines there and consider a full replacement of all lines as has been suggested.

belfert · February 03, 2018, 12:53:15 PM

My bus appears to have hose from end to end for the power steering. It would almost certainly be a multi-day project to remove the old hose and install a new one. I wonder if the factory crimped the ends on after they ran the hose?

Jim Eh. · February 03, 2018, 03:00:57 PM

Naw, they put the hoses on the floor and built a bus around them. Easy peasy to change ....

skytripping · February 03, 2018, 07:42:39 PM

Spent my morning trying to get new hoses made. Turns out the fittings are the Aeroquip/reusable type fittings that can be easily removed and replaced with new hose. Only problem is the only places that were open didn't have hose that was compatible for these fittings, and the only place that was open that could build an entirely new hose was out of the elbow fitting I needed for the end that connects to the gear box. I'll have to wait until Monday to get this rebuilt and installed, but hopefully that will put an end to my power steering woes for the remaining life of the bus.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if someone told me these were the original hoses that shipped with the bus straight from the MCI factory in '83, given their astonishingly bad condition.

belfert · February 03, 2018, 09:08:59 PM

Quote from: Jim Eh. on February 03, 2018, 03:00:57 PM
Naw, they put the hoses on the floor and built a bus around them. Easy peasy to change ....

Easy to change on an MCI with a tunnel maybe. If you think it is easy on a Dina I'll let you do mine if/when the time comes. The hoses run through the ceiling of the luggage bays and then run under the bus in hard to access areas. I already spent hours on my back doing other stuff under there.

skytripping · February 05, 2018, 02:06:55 PM

I got the new hoses made and have them installed at the gear box, BUT....I can't find any reference to which side is feed and which is return, nor did I keep track of the lines when I pulled the originals out. I'm guessing it makes a difference, but my repair manual doesn't seem to reference either position.

Advice?

eagle19952 · February 05, 2018, 05:52:07 PM

Quote from: skytripping on February 05, 2018, 02:06:55 PM
I got the new hoses made and have them installed at the gear box, BUT....I can't find any reference to which side is feed and which is return, nor did I keep track of the lines when I pulled the originals out. I'm guessing it makes a difference, but my repair manual doesn't seem to reference either position.

Advice?

ooops.....
fill PS Res, bucket, pull fuel to none, crank.
the one that puts oil in the bucket..

no way do you want to run the pump dry....
no way do you want the engine to start...
i would use a clean bucket.

Iceni John · February 05, 2018, 06:58:41 PM

Quote from: skytripping on February 05, 2018, 02:06:55 PM
I got the new hoses made and have them installed at the gear box, BUT....I can't find any reference to which side is feed and which is return, nor did I keep track of the lines when I pulled the originals out. I'm guessing it makes a difference, but my repair manual doesn't seem to reference either position.

Advice?

Are your hoses the same diameter? I have a 5/8" high-pressure hose and a 3/4" return hose for my PS. Even my radiator fan motor also uses different sizes.

John

skytripping · February 05, 2018, 07:18:28 PM

I finally got my ground under me. After cleaning off sections off of the gear box, I found it is a Ross power steering box.

I briefly spoke with the fine folks at Phoenix Exchange in Texas (one of the only sites that showed up in google for the model listed on my case, and they gave me some good pointers. First, he indicated that the return port is offset from the pressure (feed) port, or located about a 1/4" higher on the case when it's in the upright position. I couldn't see any difference in the height of these two ports, so that didn't seem to offer any help.

The second pic he sent showed the "P" (pressure) and "R" (return) indicators on top of the case.

Though more definitive, this was also problematic, since the clearance for the front and top sides was only between an inch or two. I wasn't any further along in identifying which was which on my unit. I could feel the markings, but try as I might I couldn't get a definitive identification on either of them. I tried using mirrors, my iPhone's front camera, braille-like touch — nothing gave me a clear idea of the markings.

Then a lightbulb came on. Enter the kids' sculpting clay!

After putting a small ball of putty on top of the case and pressing down with my fingers using what little clearance I had, I was able to get an undeniable impression with a backwards "R". Then, just to be safe, I tried the second port, and sure enough I saw a backwards "P" (see pic). Bingo. As long as the schematics in my repair PDF matched my physical lines, I was in business.

The lines are now reconnected, and the bus has been taken for a drive. Ahhhhh, 1000% better than driving this behemoth in full-manual mode. I get a whine that I honestly can't remember whether it's new or was existing before, but the fact that it works so smoothly now....I'll take it.

- Ron

Oonrahnjay · February 06, 2018, 05:43:01 AM

Yeah, Ron. In my experience, this is a good way to get bus experience. You find something you need to do, you work out ways to do it, and as a part of it, you learn a lot of things that will be useful for you in the future. After a few, you feel good about the learning curve.
Congrats on getting this done - keep working. BH

skytripping · February 06, 2018, 07:30:46 AM

Quote from: Oonrahnjay on February 06, 2018, 05:43:01 AM
Yeah, Ron. In my experience, this is a good way to get bus experience. You find something you need to do, you work out ways to do it, and as a part of it, you learn a lot of things that will be useful for you in the future. After a few, you feel good about the learning curve.
Congrats on getting this done - keep working. BH

Thank you Oonrahnjay. I definitely appreciate the encouragement, especially after parking what felt like a multi-ton non-power steering paper weight in my driveway. After getting the one-finger steering back, it felt like I had moved a mountain, even though I've only done 1/1000th of what is going to be needed to get this conversion completed. Hoping to keep my head down and keep racking up small and steady wins like this one.

Dave5Cs · February 06, 2018, 02:47:39 PM

Genius, with the clay. I have never used that before but maybe in the future thanks. I use my phone camera a lot though and a mirror on a stick. Bravo

Jim Eh. · February 06, 2018, 03:39:30 PM

Neat trick.

I would think the whine you hear needs to be dealt with. It probably means you have air in the system.
Not too sure the procedure on a bus. If no info is forth coming ... after the bus has sat for a good length of time you could try jacking the steer axle and rotating the steering from lock to lock, first without the engine running and then with the engine running. Steadily but not too fast. From the pics it does not look like you would be able to get at a bleed screw even if it had one.