Lost powersteering...what a mess

[luigi164]

Took the Newport for a drive today. Waiting for a red light to make a right turn..Green, go and oops, heavy steering, no assist from the powersteering. Not to far from home I decided to drive on. At home I backed the car up in the garage stepped out and it was all clear: I left a trace of powersteeringfluid. Opened the hood and this is what I found:

The hose to the steeringbox just popped of. Everything was covered with steeringfluid. Hose was ok, clamp was ok. I could just slip the hose back on. Now I wonder: how did this happen ? I there so much pressure on that hose ? weak hoseclamp ? One thing I know, I do not trust that clamp anymore and gona replace it.
One thing I found out though: steeringfluid makes your splashshields and fanshroud nicely black again

 

[Davea Lux]

I would replace the hose and clamp. What probably happened was that the hose got "soft" from years of use and no longer was capable of making a good bond to the pump nipple. Long way of saying the hose is rotten. You will want to pressure wash the oil off so it does not pick up a bunch of road dirt.

Dave

 

[70NEWYORKER]

I'd take a good look at the return hose too. The rubber might be getting soft. A good parts house should have return line available by the foot from a roll.

 

[luigi164]

I won't say you're wrong about the hose that it is bad, but it still looks oké. I suspect the clamp, and going to replace it with a "screw-type". Yes I'm going to clean everything but let it drip for the night, it's everywhere pfff...

 

[Clover]

The return is normally very low pressure. It shouldn’t take much to keep it on. If it blows off after a new hose and clamp, there is a problem in the box or the valve.

 

[luigi164]

The return is normally very low pressure. It shouldn’t take much to keep it on. If it blows off after a new hose and clamp, there is a problem in the box or the valve.

Mmm, I'll think about that..pff another problem that needs to be solved..

 

[Polara_500]

From personal experience - power steering fluid is also quite flammable. Had a p/s pressure hose blow which wetted the exhaust manifold with the fluid, I still have extinguisher stains on the exh manifold, thankfully I was right in front of Crane cams storefront in Imperial Beach CA when it went although they weren't really excited about letting me use their extinguisher..................

 

[mr. fix it]

"One thing I found out though: steeringfluid makes your splashshields and fanshroud nicely black again "

I like your positive attitude about this self anti rust spray you applied.

 

[CBODY67]

The pressure line on my '67 Newport "separated" once. I was "in town" parking at an indoor car show parking lot. Took the belt off to drive it back to my shop later that afternoon. It was all city streets and I chose the straightest ones! Ordered new hoses from the dealer, as the return line was still good. Be sure to use Chry (circa 1970) or GM-spec (circa 1980) power steering fluid to keep the hoses lasting a long time. ATF will seep through them, from my experiences.

Think of that psf as "rust preventative" coating. Might take a few start/stop/turn the wheel side-to-side cycles to get all of the air out of the system. When the hose "detached", there might have been 800+ psi in that hose, as the max psi is about 1200psi? Return line pressure is much less.

CBODY67

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

Don't know 'bout anyone else but being the none purest that I am, I've found that the "BAND TYPE SPRING CLAMPS" that Mother haz graduated to in the last 25-30 yearz are far superior to the old stile clamps and we won't even talk about the worm gear type clamps. When I make bone yard runz I alwayz come away with ah few. I call it pocket stuff lol. I know MY BAD, Jer

 

[CBODY67]

Many OEMs used the thick-wire spring clamps in the '60s. Even back then, they were noted to lose their clamping ability with age and were usually replaced with the perceived-superior worm drive band clamps. The spring clamps were easier to install on the assembly line with a more consistent pressure, not having to rely upon a worker to tighten the worm clamp securely, or at all. The worm-drive clamps were usually a fleet option, though, or used on engine in those applications.

There's also the "flat metal" spring clamps too. Almost all of these vintage-style clamps are usually available in the restoration parts vendor catalogs, or in the case of fuel line clamps, in new carb install kits from Holley or similar.

CBODY67

 

[Pete Kaczmarski]

From personal experience - power steering fluid is also quite flammable. Had a p/s pressure hose blow which wetted the exhaust manifold with the fluid, I still have extinguisher stains on the exh manifold, thankfully I was right in front of Crane cams storefront in Imperial Beach CA when it went although they weren't really excited about letting me use their extinguisher..................

times II and another plug to keep a fire extinguisher with old car when you drive them....my incident was with my 1959 Imperial, I shut off the car and the fire stopped.

 

[luigi164]

The return is normally very low pressure. It shouldn’t take much to keep it on. If it blows off after a new hose and clamp, there is a problem in the box or the valve.

Took the returnhose off today, after I cleaned everything up. The ends of the hose were a little torn so I'm going to find a replacement ther next days. To be continued.