P6B power steering hoses realignment

M

mikecoombs

Well-Known Member
Now that spring has arrived i'm doing some more work on my P6B...I'm wondering if anyone on here knows why the pump feed line goes around three sides of the engine bay and why the high pressure line from pump to steering box only has a short metal pipe on it and is made up of two different sized flexible lines joined together. The latter issue applies to both left hand and right hand drive arrangements??

I'm planning on replacing the pump feed line with Aluminium pipe and possibly the HP line with steel pipe. Both will have a short rubber section prior to going into the pump to allow the engine to move.

I figure the circuitous route for the feed line is so it can run in front of the radiator for cooling, but I don't think it would be that much...

Michael
 
I dimly recall reading or hearing that the length of the power steering hoses served to keep the fluid cool.
 
Yes, that is my reasoning too. The HP hose issue is the most confounding. I'm currently thinking the pump fitting is designed for the larger hose fitting size while the steering box uses the smaller hose size. Rather than change the box or pump fitting, creating an orphan product at higher expense, they joined the two hose sizes together...small one end big the other...
 
mikecoombs said:
Now that spring has arrived i'm doing some more work on my P6B...I'm wondering if anyone on here knows why the pump feed line goes around three sides of the engine bay and why the high pressure line from pump to steering box only has a short metal pipe on it and is made up of two different sized flexible lines joined together. The latter issue applies to both left hand and right hand drive arrangements??

I'm planning on replacing the pump feed line with Aluminium pipe and possibly the HP line with steel pipe. Both will have a short rubber section prior to going into the pump to allow the engine to move.

I figure the circuitous route for the feed line is so it can run in front of the radiator for cooling, but I don't think it would be that much...

Michael
Click to expand...
I have the same question, how do the hoses are fitted, has someone pics or a photo from a left steer car?. Maybe member from europe. thanks in advance./
 
Standard RHD fitting has two pipes leaving the reservoir facing rearward ish both pipes cross over to the steering box side one the enters steering box (as the low pressure return line) the other pipe turns left goes down the side of the engine bay, out the front of the front panelalongside the radiator, where it is clipped along the rear edge of the lower front panel then returns back past the radiator and into the feed side of the pump. The pressure side of the pump has a two piece pressure hose which runs up over the water pump then across to the drivers side where it heads back toward the steering box. Note that the last portion of travel (from engine front to the steering box) needs to be held away from everything to prevent transmission of noise into the body and cabin.

I can't quite recall LHD version except that the steering box and reservoir tank are swapped over while the pump stays in the same place. In theory I'd expect the Pressure line to go directly rearward to the steering box and the feed line go straight from reservoir to do the same crossover at the front panel thence to pump.
 
Oke thank,s, I had some idea the feed hose did go side of radiator to pump.

The rest I do now, the high pressure hose is indeed a noise inducing problem, but
rubber supports who I can make myself can eliminate this, as I remember the hose
was supported bij a clip in the engine left side, so it can also make no noise anymore.

regards
 
I am in the process of rebuilding my 1970 3500S. Because the PS hoses looked old and dried out, I replaced all of them. the two low pressure ones I simply fabricated from stock PS hose. The high pressure one from the pump to the box did not appear to be available. In searching however, I found on ed from a Jaguar XJ that looked very similar, and had exactly the right fittings. It was about a foot longer. Using a tubing bender and a torch, I carefully straighted the smaller tube end from it's U shape. The larger tube end I converted from an L shape to a box U. The larger end fitting screwed directly into the pump. The smaller went right through to the Adwest box. The longer Jag hose routed neatl around the window washer and up along the outboard of the fender liner. It does not pass near either the manifold or the radiator.The Jag hose cost about $35 at Autozone.

Alas when I filled the reservoir, the fluid poured out of the selector shaft seals at the bottom of the box. There were no leaks from the hoses.

I successfully rebuilt the box on my own, but could not achieve the replacement of the Pittman arm on the shaft. With difficulty and time I located PS Systems Inc. in Miamii, and shipped the box to them. They rebuilt it and pressure tested it AND REFITTED THE PITTMAN ARM for $375. I have received it back and will try to reinstall it in June. The technician told me that the Pittman Arm was the most difficult one he had encountered. They put the unit on a large shop press to achieve that. When I tried that it bent the lower arm of my shop press.

I Al's broke two Pittman Arm Pullers before I pulled it off, heating it with a torch.

I will report further when I reinstall the box.

Keith Hennessee
 
Keith,
While you have the box out, its worth checking the v channel between the box mount towers and the firewall. That area is a water/dirt trap and can rust out. It's very hard to get to once the box is in place but can be easily welded while it's out.
 
Thank you very much for the thought, fortunately the car has been in Texas and always garaged for the last 45 years. Prior to that it was garaged for the previous 7 and never driven in the winter when they salt the roads. When I got the box out, the first thing I did was to diligently clean that area for exactly the reason you mentioned. No Rust! lots and lots of dirt, now all vacuumed away and wiped clean with solvent.

The only rust I have discovered was on the radiator shroud and the cover for pulley and belt and the bracket on the alternator. Purely surface. A couple of places on the heater box. I sanded that away and repainted with Rustoleum spray.

Thanks for the thought.

Keith Hennessee
 
mikecoombs said:
Keith,
While you have the box out, its worth checking the v channel between the box mount towers and the firewall. That area is a water/dirt trap and can rust out. It's very hard to get to once the box is in place but can be easily welded while it's out.
Click to expand...
I have my steering box out at the moment and the amount of dirt and grime that had built up in that corner was a bit of an eye opener.
 
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