Date:         Sun, 7 Aug 2022 08:29:05 -0700
Reply-To:     Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject:      Power steering pump hi press hose
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Hi,

Mentioned in other thread that I replaced that hose this last week.

Thought I’d give my thoughts :-)

It’s the hose with the banjo fitting at pump end, then rubber, then union at other end to the hard line that runs forward to the rack.

I found a small split in the rubber hose. There are aftermarket assemblies available, and I think you can get an original Vw assembly too ( the latter is about 300 buck US I think).

The good thing about the original is that it has a section in the middle of the rubber hose that has a small orifice which dampens the pump pulses, keeping thing quiet.

But I decided to have a local shop replace the rubber, and therefore no vibration dampener. The shop was coast industrial here in Victoria, on Duppelin. Actually it’s been bought by greenline and called that now. But same staff as before.

I’ve used that shop a fair bit back in the 90s and 00s, and have always been pleased with parts and service.

Took the hose in Thursday noon, got call Friday 8am that it was ready.

Installed the hose later that day. It’s not any more noisy than before, if you are listening at the engine bay. But inside, when driving at low speed , it’s noisier.

Noise is coming mostly from the steel lines at about the section adjacent to the sliding door. If I grip the lines with my hand, it quietens down a fair bit. So I’ll rig up some rubber things under there to mimic that.

Had a bit of a scare Saturday when I saw a drip of fluid on underside of pump. Thought maybe pump case cracked or was leaking at a seam. Pulled the pump off mount, hoses still attached , and realized it was from the banjo fitting. There are new washers there, not the copper crush washers originally fitted, but a steel and rubber combo washer the shop supplied.

I just had to tighten up that joint a bit more.  I’m always paranoid about cracking cast bodies so maybe I tend to not tighten enough . And the alternator was still in van so I couldn’t get socket and torque wrench on the bolt, I was using open end wrench and poorly calibrated arm :-)

Anyway, no leaks now.

Oh and it cost 100 bucks Canadian to have that section repaired.

Alistair