Problem After PS Hose Change

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  • LagunengrunE36
    Member
    • Jun 2009
    • 77

    #1

    Problem After PS Hose Change

    A month or so ago, I changed the hose that goes from the PS reservoir to the steering rack. I bled the system and everything was fine. After a while, I noticed that the hose that goes from the reservoir to the pump was also leaking, so I bought a new hose to replace it. The hose that was on the car looked like this: http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...2411133400-M20

    And I replaced it with this: http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...411135936-M280

    I have a '90 325is, and according to Pelican, the top hose is from a 318 and the lower hose is from a 325... so I replaced it with the correct hose from my research. The hose from the pump was connected to the small opening on the reservoir (with an up arrow), and the hose from the rack was connected to the large opening (with a down arrow). So I put in the new hose and connected everything as it was, started the car up, and noticed the the fluid sounded like it was boiling. It wasn't really bubbles but it looked like the fluid wanted to go down the hoses but it couldn't. When I tried to move the wheel to bleed it, there was a sort of grinding noise coming from the rack I guess. There was also vibration in the wheel. So I shut the car down and the PS fluid was foaming/had small bubbles. I left it overnight and in the morning half the fluid had leaked out from the banjo bolt on the pump (I tightened it to 29 ft lb which is what Bentley says, but apparently it wasn't enough.)

    So today, I did some more research and it looks like the hoses were mixed up at the reservoir... the hose to the pump is the feed line and the hose to the rack is the return line (right?) and the feed line needs to be connected where the arrow points down and the return line needs to be connected where the arrow points up. So I switched them today, and started the car up. The fluid didn't sound like it was boiling... instead there were very large air bubbles. But there was still the noise/vibration when I tried to move the steering wheel. Also, the fluid wasn't going down... instead it went down when I moved the wheel and came back up when I returned it. So I jacked the front up and tired to move the steering wheel. It moves but there is a faint noise. The fluid went down a bit and stopped. I had to add very little fluid. I don't know if it's bled... the fluid isn't going down but it seemed I had to add way too little after I moved the steering wheel lock to lock a few times, but I'm not sure.

    So, what could be the problem? I can't figure it out... there is noise but everything is working. Should I let it idle a bit before moving the steering wheel?

    Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to give as much detail as possible. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
  • Hellabad
    E30 Modder
    • Aug 2008
    • 807

    #2
    So long as the reservoir is full, you aren't really going to hurt anything by running the bubbles out of it.


    Just turn the steering wheel all the way to one side and hold it for a few seconds, and then repeat the opposite way. This will bleed it about as good as you can get, to make sure you are on the right track.
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    • LagunengrunE36
      Member
      • Jun 2009
      • 77

      #3
      So just ignore the noise and try to bleed it?

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