power steering hose leak

[good_old_geo]

Hi Guys,

I just have a quick question. The power steering hose closest to the firewall is leaking from its attachment in the rack and pinion assembly.I saw a thread there talking about the hose replacement. Does any body know what size wrench should I use to take out the fitting? My car is a geo prizm so I guess its the one with the o-ring. The power steering line itself is dry its just leaking from the attachment is there a chance the rack and pinion itself needs to be replaced?

[C-Mo]

Hate to bump an old thread, but I can answer this and have a couple related questions.

The fitting is 16mm. Since a lot of wrench sets skip the even numbers after 14mm, a 5/8" wrench works just fine (5/8" = 16.1mm or so). The leak could be from the o-ring on the old fitting or it could be a seal in the rack itself. Most parts stores sell a steering rack seal kit, so you may be able to repair it yourself.

Now... does anyone know what size Torx driver I need to remove the upper fitting (by the pump)? T60? It looks like a large hex-head socket would work as well, but again I don't know what size. I could go buy a bunch of metric sockets and then return the ones that were the wrong size, but that would be an expensive PITA.

I have a spare pressure hose, but it's missing the o-ring. I must have dropped it somewhere. If Autozone can't get me an o-ring (the hose is Duralast), I'm going to go to NAPA to find a replacement, but I want to make sure I'm buying the correct material. Is the o-ring a basic nitrile o-ring, or is it a special material?

[Greasewrench]

Originally Posted by C-Mo

Hate to bump an old thread, but I can answer this and have a couple related questions.

The fitting is 16mm. Since a lot of wrench sets skip the even numbers after 14mm, a 5/8" wrench works just fine (5/8" = 16.1mm or so). The leak could be from the o-ring on the old fitting or it could be a seal in the rack itself. Most parts stores sell a steering rack seal kit, so you may be able to repair it yourself.

Now... does anyone know what size Torx driver I need to remove the upper fitting (by the pump)? T60? It looks like a large hex-head socket would work as well, but again I don't know what size. I could go buy a bunch of metric sockets and then return the ones that were the wrong size, but that would be an expensive PITA.

I have a spare pressure hose, but it's missing the o-ring. I must have dropped it somewhere. If Autozone can't get me an o-ring (the hose is Duralast), I'm going to go to NAPA to find a replacement, but I want to make sure I'm buying the correct material. Is the o-ring a basic nitrile o-ring, or is it a special material?

i can answer part of your question. in regards to the upper PS hose fitting, try either a T50, T55, or T60 torx driver to unscrew that. a 22mm socket also fits over it, but i would be leary of rounding the corners off with it, besides, i imagine that torx star in the center of the hex fitting was put there for a reason. its a pretty big hex bolt, try out the T60 1st then go down sizes from there