mbct

On my 2008 XLT, I have a corroded and leaking power steering return line. The leak appears to be right at the crimped fitting just before the plate on the steering gear. I see flare nuts on two other lines (one to pump, one to ?) and I see a single hex nut on the steering gear itself, but there appears to be no actual fastener on this return line. Without more of a teardown, I cannot tell if there USED to be a flare nut and it has corroded away or has been hacked by some former owner. Does this attach some other magical way? The other end has only a clamp to a metal line that looks like it wanted to have a ps cooler, so is obviously not designed to carry any sort of pressure. Words of wisdom?

mbct

This was making me nuts, so I started taking stuff apart. Looks like the plate that hold on the pressure hose (held on by the single hex nut) also holds on the return hose that is leaking. O-rings make the seal. Not that it matters. Advance, Autozone, Napa, not even Tasca Parts has the return hose. Its been over a year since the supplier went out of business, one would think Ford could have resourced this by now. Oh well, could be some downtime til I can get one custom made.

donbun68

Did you try Rockauto? That's where I got my steering hose.

mbct

Good call. $10.72 for the hose, $25.02 for 2-day shipping. I didn't want to be down for a week, but that appears to be the only other option.

donbun68

And it's a good quality product. Looks same as OEM.

Itat

Sorry to bump this older thread but I just had to have a PS hose replaced on my 09 XLT (5.4L with 6sp auto). What is the Ford part number that everyone is having to replace? I had other work done at the same time by my trusted independent mechanic but I figure the re&re cost me over CAD$500 including all labor and taxes.

Ford Heavy

There was little info on this hose change so I thought I would post what I found despite this being an old thread.



1- I bought an OEM part from Tasca on EBay. It was $47 delivered.
NEW OEM POWER STEERING GEAR TO COOLER HOSE 2005-2008 FORD F150 #6L3Z-3A713-E (Cheaper aftermarkets available but I didn't want have time to deal with fit issues.)



New Hose.

2- Remove air cleaner assembly to give good visual. You can see the gear box the hose attaches to from both the top and the bottom. But it is hidden...



Starting view from top.


3- Remove the (1) 10 mm bolt. 3/8 drive with an extension or 2 and you can easily reach it from below. Be careful not to damage the other lines. Some might recommend changing all the lines while you have them apart, but I didn't.


4- The line you want is the bottom right one. It is held in by the plate that the bolt holds in place. But the plate the bolt holds in is attached to the top left HP line. You have to remove and slide that assembly out of your way. Mine popped right out.



From the top you can see the HP line & plate removed.


5- Now comes the tricky part. The return line you want is typically stuck. There is a "ship-lap" end that gets rusted in place pretty good. It looks flush but it is inside the gear housing. I did my best to wiggle the old line but it was on the verge of breaking off and I thought I would lose all leverage if it did. I am not sure if this is the best idea, but at this point I had to get it done. So I used a 24" (x1") pipe I had and placed it on top of the line right against the gear housing where the line had thicker parts. I had to carefully move the HP line out of the way. I hit the pipe with a sledge hammer from the top and then the bottom until it started working its way out. It took more force than I really wanted but it did finally start to move. Once it was moving I was able to wiggle it out.



Note the ship lap & thicker part to hit on.


6- Clean the area real good and insert the new line.



New line installed.


7- The plastic clip on bracket and the other end of the hose is pretty self explanatory.


Good luck.

CoreyC

Thanks FordHeavy for posting this! I am going through this right now with my 2004 and in frustration have begun to beat that fitting pretty good. My line broke right at the bottom of the V. With all the rust it took forever to get that plate to pop off. I've been under there with vice grips and hammers. So I guess its time to try it with the old pip and hammer!

Thanks again!

CoreyC

It worked! Thank god!

CountyMounty

So so glad to find this post as I have been searching everywhere for an explanation on how it connects. Any more insight at all on doing this project would be greatly appreciated. I was quoted $260 for the repair and that is with me getting the part from the dealer. I have already ordered the part and it should be here tomorrow but I am trying to get all ready to go before I start. I want to get any tools I need (I just obtained a 11/16 flare wrench) and also considered replaces multiple hoses while I'm doing it but having trouble finding the right part numbers. Mine is a 2008 5.4 XLT 4x4.

At this point I am a little confused about which hose is which, the leak I have is coming from the hose that goes between the ps pump and the rack and has the switch port. In diagrams on ford parts sites and from tracing it out under the truck it seems to me that that line, which I believe is the high pressure line, is the one that attaches on the bottom right on mine so I am a bit confused??