Philly, power steering lines at the steering box…..It’s Done

[JimLev]

I just started to remove the PS lines, new ones should be here on Wed.
My headers are right above the steering box, no room to get my hand in there even with the engine jacked up.
I think you have headers too, right? Did you have to unbolt the box from the subframe for more clearance?
I remember replacing one of these lines in the past, must have been before I installed the headers.

[Nfs021]

Is there enough room to use long ratchet extension bars with a swivel adapter?

[philly98540]

I did mine with the engine out so yeah, it was easy in my case. I was wondering how hard it would be do with headers and engine in and was why I sorta mentioned it the other day. The space is very tight. You may need to make a custom wrench to get to it, but then fiddling with the banjo sealing washers, making sure no dirt is on the sealing surface, etc. when you go to put the new one in. Be sure to clean the area good before you loosen the banjo. I assume you got the engine up as high as it will go at this point, but maybe you can lift the drivers side a tad higher then the passenger side and get a little more wiggle room? Only other option maybe lower the subframe a bit, but then you have to hold the engine from up top... Hmmm...

I wish I was there to help out, but sorta glad I'm not LOL.

[StephenVA]

On the M5’s with Dinan headers it is a PITA to get to the box fittings coming out and going in. Braille methods were required and two sets of fingers.
you can forget about the torque confirmation as it is impossible to get anywhere near a straight shot to the fittings. Used the crush feel on the o rings compression.

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Oh, buy extra o rings for the project as many will go who knows where

[JimLev]

OK, thanks guys.
I was thinking about lowering the subframe or worse yet remove the header, which would be a royal PITA.
Just got an update from FedEx, the parts are arriving today.

Stephen, got the whole car clayed, it is so smoooooth.

[Jason5driver]

Pictures ?

[JimLev]

At 8:30 AM FedEx said it was on the truck for delivery, just a few min ago they sent an update, delivery tomorrow.

Pics….
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Or this….

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[philly98540]

Let us know how it goes. Getting space in there is tough. Undoing tranny mounts may not help at all... but may allow some rotation higher on the drivers side? Love the back and knee saver chair!!

[sienayr]

man Jim ya gotta git ya self a quickjack!

[SW530]

I tease about your floor but there was a time.. I had a custom house built in Oregon back in 2000.. and had three 2 car garages. Plain looking. So I ordered the stuff and in one weekend etched the cement with muratic acid, cleaned it all out, laid down a primer and then three color coats, and Sunday evening added a rubber vinyl baseboard. Rubber because these garages had hot and cold water and I'd clean the cars inside the garage. I never worked on the cars in them though, I had a 20x50' feeder barn with an attached 30x40' workshop and 20x30' horse stalls.. and worked on my cars in there. I had a 3/4" gravel drive though that was about 200' long so I was always catching gravel between the treads and then running over the floor which is why I did three coats.. and when I sold the place years later it still had never broke through to the primer anywhere.. You've gotta love modern chemistry.g-2.jpgg-3.jpgg-1.jpg

[JimLev]

Not sure I can get the last hose banjo bolt out, the header pipe is right on top of half of the head. This is the insulated hose and the only one that isn’t leaking. I did get 3 of the hoses out. I’ll try unbolting the steering box to see if I can get enough clearance to get it out.
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Yes sienayr, a quick jack would be nice. My neighbor down the street has one, I should have borrowed it.
Nice garage floor SW530, they are so easy to keep clean.

So as I wait for FedEx I fixed the pass side pork chop, it met an untimely death with a a curb a while ago.
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Some fiberglass cloth and resin on the inside, short strand body filler on the outside, and some paint.

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[StephenVA]

Looking good!

[JimLev]

Yup, unbolting the box enabled me to move it enough so the banjo bolt was away from the header tube. I could get a crows foot on it from the top.
It’s a tight fit from the top, if I ever have to do this again I’ll drain the cooling system so I can remove the dual solenoids/pump that is mounted on the side of the strut tower. That will give you room to get your hand down there.

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[philly98540]

Pork chop fix is good stuff. Those things are $$$ nowadays.

Glad you got all the hoses out. Not a fun job especially with drips of PS fluid coming down on you.

[JimLev]

Finally finished installing all 4 new PS hoses. I bought Rein hoses from FCP.
The 2 that connect to the steering box were a problem, they needed to be re-bent to fit properly. The Rein pressure hose wasn’t insulated like the BMW hose. I removed some from the old hose and added it to the new hose.
The 2 hoses that connect to the reservoir were fine.
Now to re-connect everything I removed to do the hoses.
StephenVA was 200% correct, this is a royal PITA job. I think if I ever have to do it again I’d pull the engine.
There’s the old and new hoses side by side. The hoses that connect to the box are at the top.

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[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Man, Rein has been dropping the ball on their parts quality control. They used to make good perfect parts. I had an issue with the lower hose to the radiator on my last cooling rebuild on the silver wagon. I got everything oem, but FCP did not have that one in stock, so I got the Rein hose. That POS coupled to the radiator with a little finagling, the coupler that couples up to the radiator was not set in the right angle, that is the coupler that gets the pressed stainless steel clamp, so slightly twisted the hose corner a bit to pop it into the radiator, got to bleeding the system, everything was ok….. up until the car got up to temp, final bleeding, the coupler let go, and all the new coolant that I had thrown in leaked out. The conical ring inside the coupler is supposed to snap into place, locking the channel that holds the O-ring in place, it popped loose, and the pressure breaks loose. Seems like Rein had a run on those hoses all doing that, I told the guys at FCP to tell the factory to whip the slaves harder so they can get their crap straight. At least with those power steering hoses, you just had to give the pipe a bend. Glad you got it.
Just saw the repair you did on the porkchop, looks good!

[StephenVA]

Got to love slave labor sabotage!

[ross1]

What is a "pork chop"? A more butch version of the E36's lollipop?
Ross from sixcylinderville

[SW530]

FYI - Especially if you're never done it before.

I had a limited edition car and finding a new A/C line for it was impossible. I could kinda make one work from another close/like model, but it wasn't right. At the same time I was finishing an early model mustang and I fabbed up a rack mount because they came with a saginaw. Now I needed PS lines. I had a friend in a parts store who let me open every PS and AC line box and measure.. and that was when some greasy guy.. and I mean greasy.. came in to pick up some parts and he looked at what I was doing, handed me his card, and left. Simple card. Said his name, phone, and "hydraulic lines."

Turns out he had a greasy truck. His business was to go on site, and using what was in/on his truck, fab up hydraulic lines. He had a $50 minimum that covered the first hour and materials for two lines. He came out, did the PS lines in about ten minutes.. the guy was good. And fast. Then I asked "do you do oil cooler lines?" Ten minutes later "do you do rear dif cooler lines?" He asked me what I was looking for at the auto parts store. I told him an A/C low pressure line for a 99 Cobra Mustang. So he made one of those too. I got a bright idea and had him make five more, if I was looking for them so where others, I could pay for today selling those five lines.. that was the plan. I made it with three lines.

It turns out there are these guys in every agricultural area.. you've probably seen their trucks, they fab up lines for tractors and all the other farm gear these communities use. Greasy guys, greasy trucks, hydraulic fluid is a mess.

The last time I had him out he saw I needed brake lines and he did awesome lines for me. Quickly too!

I hope he sticks around. About ten years ago I found a local guy who reupholstered two couches for me, did a great job, charged less than half of the place I had some estimates from in town. So he did a couple car seats for me. The last thing I gave him was a 60/40 bench seat from a 1992 Toyota 4x4 Extracab. He couldn't find matching material, so I found a passenger side 40 that was never used, the drivers sides are always wasted, so he stripped that 40 down and got enough fabric to do my drivers side 60. The last thing I asked him to do.. and he never calls me back. I call him, line is disconnected. Finally I find time to go out to his house.. and there are 4-5 people cleaning out his shop. The guy was cleaning his rain gutters and fell and broke his neck! So you just learned your reupholstery guy broke his neck and died, what would you be saying to his wife? Yep, I did it.. "did he finish my center console?" She just stared at me, and walked over and gave it to me. Good thing I wasn't going back to get more work done..

[JimLev]

What is a "pork chop"? A more butch version of the E36's lollipop?
Ross from sixcylinderville

What’s an e36 lollipop?

The e39 pork chop is the side pieces that go next to the lower engine cover.
I have no idea how they got that name. The M5 version are pricey, more than the regular e39’s.
See #14
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_2427

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SW530, I bought the crimp tool to make all the AC lines for my hotrod. It’s a piece of cake to make them.

Just finished installing the FREE AC belly tensioner.
Also some of the crush washers FCP sent were bent. Snotty get after them!

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Aye aye Capt’n! The E36 lollipops are the bracket with the bushing that always gets wasted, just like the tension arm bushings on the E39, only, the lollipops mount up on the firewall side of the car, and the A arms have a shaft that slide into that bushing. So, E36, E46, the Mini Coopers have those lollipops, and they always end up worn the hell out.

[SW530]

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SW530, I bought the crimp tool to make all the AC lines for my hotrod. It’s a piece of cake to make them.

Sometimes the Chinese made specialty tools are great, they put the tool within reach for a DIYer and you Git R Done.. If Mr. Greasy breaks his neck I'll buy one..

[JimLev]

This is the one I bought, looks like the price has gone up some.
https://www.amazon.com/Mastercool-71.../dp/B000WBQ4U2

[SW530]

That looks nice, well made. Mr. Greasy had a 2-3' lever on his that he'd lean on, while this one I';d imagine if it would hold up to my Milwaukee it would achieve close to the same clamping force. And assembling the hoses and fittings might be a chore.. but I could imagined amassing a proper kit could be rewarding to amass as well..

[philly98540]

Strange the insulation not up to par on the high pressure hose. All our parts are getting sent to the scrub line by the looks of it.

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Strange the insulation not up to par on the high pressure hose. All our parts are getting sent to the scrub line by the looks of it.