Hey everyone, it's getting a little cold here in MN, so what better to have your power steering hose blow and have to work on your car in a -8 degree garage! Yeah, so I've got a problem. I blew the power steering hose right at the casting that connects to the power steering pump. There is the rubber hose, that converts into a 1/4" like copper sort of pipe, which then was probably welded into this casting that connects with two bolts on the pump. We've gone through 2 of these hose assemblies within about 6 months of each other. We repaired the most recent one by drilling it out and soldering together with some high intensity heat, but the repair was no match for this frigid cold we had this morning. Now, I'm driving around with no power steering (removed the belt), the car idles faster and I'm looking for a solution. Preferably an after market solution since Honda obviously had a design flaw here... Thanks!

 

Never heard of that happening before. Maybe just look into replacing the unit, a) I don't think there are many aftermarket power steering parts and b) just because it broke once (second time doesn't count since it sounds like you jury-rigged it) doesn't mean there is a design problem.

 

The one I have now, is the second one. I've fixed that one 4 times already. So you think I should just get another one? Like salvage or brand new? Could it be some sort of cylinder somewhere pushing too much pressure through?

 

where did you get the replacements from? From what I know, using high intensity head to solder it back together, and then having zero degree fluid moving through it would be likely to break it. I think every time you drill it out and solder it back on there it just makes it weaker. I would either try and find a steel fitting and weld it on there , or just replace the unit. When's the last time you replaced the PS fluid? Another thought is that if some water got in there, freezing=expansion and that could break it also. That seems likely to me if you haven't changed the PS fluid in all these times that you've fixed the adapter.

 

You've got a good point there. Every time it's broken we've gotten another one from the junk yard. We've never actually flushed out the entire thing. It's quite possible there could be water in there. Seems like yesterday morning (when it broke) I came out of work at 9AM started it and it felt like I had no power steering, or at least felt like something wasn't right. It was probably like -12 when I left work, so after the car had been sitting for 5 hours, freezing is definitely a possibility, almost a guarantee in fact. I'll get a new hose assembly and then figure out some way to reinforce the existing piece without breaking the original bond, then flush out the PS fluid and put some brand new stuff in there. Thanks for the help, much appreciated!

 

Glad I could help ya out. Just be careful when you're re-inforcing the original piece if it is made out of copper, heating it up a lot might damage it. I'll take a look at mine today and let you know if I can think of anything. Good luck!

 

Thanks, much appreciated!