E46 rack swap, non stop leaks

[bignslow]

Last year I swapped E46 rack onto my 318. I reused factory hoses. As I recall I had to flip one around. Shortly after I developed a leak at the pump which I thought was a crush washer. Got new washers from the dealer and I thought that was it. Car sat over winter and this morning I looked under it to discover the whole rack has fluid drops hanging off it. I am assuming it's leaking from the hoses again. Question, is it ok to reuse stock hoses by flipping them around? The connectors seemed identical to what's on E46 rack and both ends looked to be same size. I don't understand why it's leaking.

[glnr13]

just asking to make sure but you replaced both washers on each side of all the banjo fittings?

i'd wipe it all down really clean and then follow the trail to see where the leak is originating from.
and yes, reusing the old hoses is not a problem as long as theyre in good shape.

[djmossm42]

I did this swap on mine a few years ago, what tie rod combo did you go with? I kept the E46 inners and used E36 outers. If I remember correctly you need the E46 inners for the venting feature to relieve internal air pressure. I also have a leak at the pump now but I think it’s just the pump. Not sure if it wore out faster from having the E46 rack or not but it didn’t happen right away. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[bignslow]

Messed around with it some more. Narrowed down the leak to the larger hose at the rack. Appears to be leaking at the crush washers. It it possible the bolt is too long and it's bottoming out? I am gonna get some new crush washers and try it again. What about ditching the banjo bolts for some regular AN fittings?

I used E30 inner and outer tie rods. For venting I drilled a couple holes in the rack housing and ran a hose between them to minic stock setup.

[bignslow]

New crush washers appear to have fixed it. Will know for sure tomorrow after it sits overnight. Although before it started leaking right away so I think it's a good sign.

That's one leak down two more to go. AC compressor is leaking from both case o-rings so gonna be rebuilding it and got a nice oil leak from the front timing cover. It's sad because I just did all the front seals last year.