Yes many/most cars have this. Sometimes it's just a piece of rigid line in the airflow under the front; other times it has fins.

 

IIRC @proeddie had the same issue and repaired it himself

found it
https://www.promasterforum.com/threads/i-like-my-van-but-a-power-steering-hose-fiasco.98776/

 

Just of info - The PM power steering fluid is crazy expensive.

Gary

 

Yes it's cold pressed extra virgin power steering oil from Italy .

 

Good gawd. A tiny drip under the van and it opens up a *ucking can of worms.

The service writer said something about "adding a clamp". I'm assuming that fix will get deep into the nether regions of Montana far between service points before it fails. Sigh. I guess I'll have to look at their fix and see what they do.

How long could you go if one of those lines failed catastrophically? Do you just lose power steering or does the entire power steering system digest itself from the inside with no fluid? In other words . . . could I limp to the next RAM dealer?

 

Good gawd. A tiny drip under the van and it opens up a *ucking can of worms.

I'd spray some contact cleaner or something on those connections to clean them and they keep and eye on them to try to find the exact source. If it's just the clamps maybe you could get in there and give them a pinch with some nippers.

 

Well, at least there is not a lot to run into in Montana

I'm pretty sure the that the power steering is really power assisted steering and you still get muscle building steering if it fails.

Gary

 

I think low fluid level would damage the steering pump and probably the rack and pinion at some point..

 

why don't you try cleaning it up yourself to more precisely detect the point of leakage.. maybe you can repair a bad hose from some generic powering steering hose from the autoparts store, or delete the power steering fluid cooler some how if that's the problem, like MacGyver would.

 

Update on the power steering leak: They said "the (factory crimp) clamps were really loose", and replaced them with worm gear clamps:

Sigh. I guess we will see.

And, it turns out that nothing was covered under warranty. Factory warranty is now expired, add-on warranty does not cover hoses. Pfft.

 

Update on the power steering leak: They said "the (factory crimp) clamps were really loose", and replaced them with worm gear clamps:

Very happy to hear it's not a bigger problem.
I don't like gear clamps on small diameter hoses, they don't clamp uniformly, they "flat spot" the hoses, and tend to leak over time. The dealer used the wrong clamps, they should have used the factory pinch style.
I'd recommend fuel injection hose clamps although they might be a pain to install because of the lack of access. YMMV.

 

@RV8R I agree, there is some design issue here. My thoughts: The hose is too big / fitting too small on that end. To compensate for that mismatch, the original factory clamp must be put on really tight. What could go wrong? It is a crimp style clamp so it will never get loose. Problem solved. But what I think happens is that the clamp is so tight that the rubber deforms or flows (pushed beyond its elastic region into its plastic region). Thus the factory clamps were never really tight (@RamCares this is a design error. Please forward to the people who could fix it). A bit akin to a strong steel bolt screwed into a hole threaded into soft aluminum. If you overtighten it, the threads will deform or strip and make the linear pull on the bolt smaller -- looser even though all you did was "tighten". In the case of this power steering return hose, it it would have been the rubber deforming, which made the clamp "loose" - even though it got there by being too tight.

In the other thread I saw a hose rating of 400 PSI and someone mentioned 280 PSI. This has to be a return hose, correct? I wonder what the actual pressure is. I would think the return pressure would be quite small, unless there was a clogged return filter further downstream.

@83Grumman Regarding the screw clamps, their performance can vary a lot. Based on that video, I try to get Breeze "liner" clamps if I have time to order and wait for them. I see the benefit of the fuel injection style clamps. I usually do not use those in most of my projects because they have a limited clamping range - so I rarely have any on hand. I guess I should have a fuel injection clamp kit that covers many sizes in my inventory.

In this particular case, if the rubber was deformed at the factory then the wider screw clamp might be a better solution by spreading the force over a larger area.

So I think I'll see if I have some of those good Breeze liner clamps left over from whatever project I ordered them for, and if so I'll either put them in the van toolbox, or maybe swap them out now. I guess I could go the the real local hose shop and ask for a solution.

#diyProMasterrepair

 

To compensate for that mismatch, the original factory clamp must be put on really tight. What could go wrong? It is a crimp style clamp so it will never get loose. Problem solved. But what I think happens is that the clamp is so tight that the rubber deforms or flows (pushed beyond its elastic region into its plastic region)

I don't mean to be a pain but these clamps look like they were never tightened properly.
They barely compressed the hose. Maybe an assembly/wrong tool error?
If everybody had this leak I would suggest the method/materials must be wrong. Is this a common problem?

I suspect the metal lines are factory bulged at the inserted ends so it's not all just clamp pressure securing and sealing the hose. When I was young I tried clamping PS hose onto a straight steel line and it would not stay on even with two clamps. I had to bulge/flare the hose to get it to stay. PS into a Tri-5 pickup truck mod.

These look tight. Too tight?

 

. . . clamps look like they were never tightened properly. . . .

Quite possible.

Not exactly gaining the "peace of mind" that I was after on this issue. I guess I should get it warm then do several lock-to-lock cycles with bypass on each end then re-check for leaks.

 

Those hoses can take an incredible amount of abuse. Think of all the old hoses you've removed that had 1/8" indentations that were still perfectly dry and functioning. The quality today may not be the same, it might be better/worse or the same but I don't think it's a common failure.