Drain hose fitting for power steering

[Nick1994]

Just put a new expensive OEM power steering pump on my Jeep, would like to keep it going for many more years without a pump failure.

I’m thinking of getting 3/8” barbed threaded fittings and attaching them to a ‘T’ with a ball valve on the leg out, so I can occasionally pump a quart or so out to change the fluid, maybe $3 worth of fluid a year. I’d probably need 2 T’s, one to stop flow to the reservoir and one to open for draining.

The reason is, I tried changing the fluid last month by popping the return hose off, and it broke the plastic end where the hose meets up to the reservoir. I don’t want that to happen again. Plus the original black fluid was absolutely disgusting.

Any reason brass fittings from Home Depot wouldn’t be compatible with power steering fluid? Or pressure might be too much on the return hose?

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Just put a new expensive OEM power steering pump on my Jeep, would like to keep it going for many more years without a pump failure.

I’m thinking of getting 3/8” barbed threaded fittings and attaching them to a ‘T’ with a ball valve on the leg out, so I can occasionally pump a quart or so out to change the fluid, maybe $3 worth of fluid a year. I’d probably need 2 T’s, one to stop flow to the reservoir and one to open for draining.

The reason is, I tried changing the fluid last month by popping the return hose off, and it broke the plastic end where the hose meets up to the reservoir. I don’t want that to happen again. Plus the original black fluid was absolutely disgusting.

Any reason brass fittings from Home Depot wouldn’t be compatible with power steering fluid? Or pressure might be too much on the return hose?


it's funny, i was literally just thinking of the exact same type of idea at work the other day.

 

[Dyusik]

A more BITOGER way would be to throw a 3/4-16 filter mount on it, but the changes would be a breeze, just change the filter and top off. That XG8A holds about a qt of fluid. I hear a lot of guys will put a cooler on the PS line, to shut the pump whine up. I never bothered to hook up my AC condenser to the PS pump, my fluid looks pretty good esp considering the abuse the pump sees. Then again, I don't see high temps, and will usually hang out for a bit after a long climb to let the under hood temps settle.

There is no reason a brass fitting won't work, but seriously, that fluid will look a lot better with a little PS cooler. See if you can snag one off a 90s DeVille, small enough to mount just about anywhere.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Dyusik
A more BITOGER way would be to throw a 3/4-16 filter mount on it, but the changes would be a breeze, just change the filter and top off. That XG8A holds about a qt of fluid. I hear a lot of guys will put a cooler on the PS line, to shut the pump whine up. I never bothered to hook up my AC condenser to the PS pump, my fluid looks pretty good esp considering the abuse the pump sees. Then again, I don't see high temps, and will usually hang out for a bit after a long climb to let the under hood temps settle.

There is no reason a brass fitting won't work, but seriously, that fluid will look a lot better with a little PS cooler. See if you can snag one off a 90s DeVille, small enough to mount just about anywhere.
I thought about a filter, but with the high pressures, even in the return line, wouldn't it just run in bypass mode all the time?

I was thinking about getting a bigger transmission cooler, and using the stock tiny transmission cooler as a power steering cooler.

 

[dlundblad]

What sort of pressure does the return hose see anyways?

 

[andyd]

The return isn't pressurized. I once used a washer hose as an emergency fix. Heater hose another time. The E 28 535 had a hydro brake booster. It used a simple loop of steel tube as a cooler.

 

[SHOZ]

I just cut the return hose and inserted a Magnafine filter. It's easy to pull apart and drain.

 

[edwardh1]

plastic end?? and on a jeep?

 

[CharlieBauer]

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I just cut the return hose and inserted a Magnafine filter. It's easy to pull apart and drain.


Good idea.

Or OP could just suck and refill the reservoir periodically.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
plastic end?? and on a jeep?


The rear of the pump reservoir has a plastic nipple that the hose connects to. That broke off on the original pump when I tried removing it.

 

[Garak]

Check with a good hose supply shop. They'll have information on material compatibility. I've seen it done before. Some will say it's overly complex, or whatever, but if it works for you, that's what matters most.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: Dyusik
A more BITOGER way would be to throw a 3/4-16 filter mount on it, but the changes would be a breeze, just change the filter and top off. That XG8A holds about a qt of fluid. I hear a lot of guys will put a cooler on the PS line, to shut the pump whine up. I never bothered to hook up my AC condenser to the PS pump, my fluid looks pretty good esp considering the abuse the pump sees. Then again, I don't see high temps, and will usually hang out for a bit after a long climb to let the under hood temps settle.

There is no reason a brass fitting won't work, but seriously, that fluid will look a lot better with a little PS cooler. See if you can snag one off a 90s DeVille, small enough to mount just about anywhere.
I thought about a filter, but with the high pressures, even in the return line, wouldn't it just run in bypass mode all the time?

I was thinking about getting a bigger transmission cooler, and using the stock tiny transmission cooler as a power steering cooler.


No. Your return line has very little pressure, but more importantly, it does not have the volume to overwhelm an oil filter. Using a PH8 style filter, your power steering system will be throwing a hot dog down a hallway. It is a mere trickle compared to what that filter was designed to deal with.

My wagons have standard size transmission coolers on the power steering return lines. I can go for very spirited driving, take the cap off, and stick my bare finger straight into the fluid in the reservoir.

 

[Nick1994]

I finally got around to getting this done. My original idea of using ball valves wasn't realistic on my application. It would have been too big and too heavy, with rough off-road driving and it all swinging around, it could have broken the plastic return nipple off the reservoir again, not what I want to do.

So I decided to just use a T and some barbed fittings on each end (3/8"). I have a cap on the side that will be there all the time. When I want to change the fluid, I'll take the cap off and screw on my extra barbed fitting and use some line clamp pliers upstream of the hose so it doesn't go back into the reservoir. Then it'll pump into the side hose I'll hook up and into a drain pan. I also used thread tape.

Of course the installation made a mess of the engine bay!

 

[SOHCman]

Looks good, was that the lowest spot you could have plumbed it in? I guess ease of access is most important regardless.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted by SOHCman
Looks good, was that the lowest spot you could have plumbed it in? I guess ease of access is most important regardless.

Yeah, the bottom hose clamp of that lower rubber hose is where the metal line goes into the steering box.

But this isn't to drain the reservoir. I'll hook up the 3/8" nipple and a 3' hose to a drain pan and start the engine, and flush the entire power steering system out.

I have to take the air box out to get to it, but it's just 3 quick bolts.