Assistance needed, power steering rack

Ok, so I am replacing my rack and pinion. I am having trouble getting the flare fitting for the pressure side off of the rack and pinion. It doesn't appear to be rusted or corroded. I have sprayed it with a little pb blaster and I am using a 17mm flare wrench. It simply will not budge. Not exactly looking to take a propane torch to something with transmission fluid inside of it....so other ideas would be appreciated.

 

Sometimes you have to cut the line off and stick a socket it on it, but that’s usually corroded

Snapon makes the best flare wrenches if yours is starting to slip. If not, put a giant bar on it and crank

 

I've used a pry bar on the flare wrench to get that bastard loose. I typically can get it loose with a snap on flank drive wrench, and rarely need crows foot.

When they are super rusted you have to cut the line as 545 mentioned.

Big thing is make sure the rack is still bolted down or it moves around when you're fighting with it.

 

it’s ATF not gas fumes. And inside of the rack. If you clean it first will torch on low setting really ignite? Propane is also cooler than MAP.

soak kroil or home made mix have heard 50/50 acetone and ATF is good. But that would likely be flammable and may not dry.
Kroil can smoke so if you do heat maybe heat first then kroil.

not sure how hard it is to replace the line while you’re already in there if you cut it to fit a socket that.

a crows foot or flare nut that fully wraps around grips better than partial.

 

I decided to cut the line and just order new power steering lines both pressure and return. They have 230k plus miles and are 18 years old....just starting to seep a bit so why not.

 

could be a good time to add a Magnefine inline power steering filter while you’re in there.

had one on a previous car. Got one sitting around waiting to go in my truck. Just need to find the appropriate hose clamps to get it in.

 

Definitely thought about that....but I'm not 100% sure where I would want to put that. Plus I don't have any idea how often I would want to service it/replace it. I feel like its the transmission filter on an auto transmission. They are more or less useless in my opinion.

If course my opinion may just be uninformed/ignorant and my mind is open to ay evidence that might suggest it's worth it.

 

I put a magnifine on the return right before the reservoir when I put in a new rack. Be sure to get one with a bypass in case it gets full, and pull it off after 50k miles or so - make sure to leave enough slack on the long side of the hose to reach.

$26 Magnefine 3/8" Magnetic Inline Transmission/Power Steering Filter

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787KWZPS?ie=UTF8

 

I think the interval is 40k and they have instructions where to put it. But yeah when it comes time to replace that’s a challenge I’ll have to deal with. Maybe replace hose clamps which I have a kit of one time use ear type that would simply get cut each time, new ones put on, and squeezed down with specific pliers for it.

did it fit the hose diameter? What clamps did you use? So you just found a spot, cut out a section of hose, and put it?

didn’t know they had a bypass model. Going to check if that’s the one I have. Thought there was only one. Ordered whatever they said to use for steering. Hopefully that’s it.

 

I did all new lines when I replaced the rack, I used 3/8 hose (ditched the hard sections, fewer connections = fewer chances for leaks and hose doesn't rust) with all stainless clamps. I didn't want to buy an Oetiker tool so I sourced some all stainless hose clamps. Regarding stainless hose clamps, an awful lot of them have a plain screw and just a stainless strap!

 

I'd skip the in-line filter. It's just introducing another place where some cheap hose clamps will leak

You shouldn't have any foreign material in there that needs filtering anyway. If you've got metal shavings you've got bigger problems that a filter won't solve

 

Sounds like you got this all taken care of. Just curious did you remove the outlet line first? I recently replaced my rack and found after removing the hose clamp and sliding the hose off I could remove the outlet nipple with a 17mm socket. Once out of the way I was able to get a better handle on the inlet line. Plus I had more room to rotate the wrench.

 

I have a magnefine for both my PS and ATF fluids. Its a low pressure line and never a leak with the OEM style band clamps. And I have 4 clamps in the PS line and at least 10 in the add on ATF cooler, thermostat and magnefine in the PS lines. 10 years and not a single leak. Think these operate at only about 8 PSI

Super easy to install on the PS return line. Filter $30 , PS rack >$1000

Read this by engineers John Eleftherakis and Ibrahim Khalil

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/129-1002-automatic-transmission-and-power-steering-filters/


"You can use the Magnefine on power steering systems as well. Installing it on the return hose can significantly increase power steering life. According to Boss Products, it has been especially beneficial to reducing leakage in rack and pinion steering systems.


We also installed a Magnefine into the return line of the rack and pinion steering and ran it for 552 miles before resampling the oil. The ISO code dropped from a dirty 20/17/12 to a clean 17/15/12. Similarly, when installed into the long-overdue-for-an-oil-change power steering of our '86 test rig, it dropped the code from a filthy 21/18/14 to 18/16/13 in just 289 miles."

There has to be material to filter out or the number wouldn't drop.