Replacing a Saginaw Power Steering hose was a tough project!!

When a leak in the pressure hose of my Saginaw Power Steering got bad enough I knew I had to replace the hoses. The only way I could get to the fitting on the underside of the housing was through the opening in the firewall. I got the rubber steering column boot as far away from the firewall as I could without removing the steering column itself.

I read the threads I could find on this project. Anne Goodman had posted a thread nine years ago on a replacement hose from The Parker Store. I took the old hoses down to them and they fabricated a new pressure hose and return hose. The fittings were different from the factory installed hoses but I thought they would work. There was no way the new return hose was going to be routed as the original one. The original one starts a rather drastic angle upwards just past the fitting. The new fitting did not allow the new return hose to start turning for at least 1 ½ inches further out on the hose and there was no way to route it per the original. It would have required running the return hose even closer to the exhaust manifold than before.

The smaller pressure hose was able to be installed with the assistance of a pair of channel locks. A 5/8 inch hose was split and placed over the hose to help protect it from the heat of the exhaust manifold. The old return line was reinstalled. As some other threads suggested a floor jack raised the front of the car just off the front tires and the steering wheel was turned lock to lock several times to bleed the system. The car hasn’t been driven yet but it appears the new pressure hose fixed the problem with the leak.

I found a possible source for the 90 degree block style female swivel fittings and have included a picture with this post. If I ever have to redo this project I’ll definitely try to find a hydraulic hose fabricator that can use this style fitting.

Charlie D.