Just ordered some power steering lines and a cooler for the truck.. Shipped today... Gonna dive into it next week. Any hints of advice as I prep for that to come?
It's going to be a one day project. Morning to evening. Most of the clips and what not have oil/fluid on them from previous repairs. I have seen a few videos of different people changing them and some different tricks. I'll have it up on ramps and stands so I'll have plenty of room to work. I think i'll go the route of trying to pass the lines through the fender area by removing the upper control arm.Jack up the front end, put the TrailBlazer on jack stands, remove the driver's side front wheel and wheel skirt, spray down the various clips and fasteners daily with Kroil beginning a few days ahead of time, give yourself plenty of time and take frequent breaks. That's how I would do it if I have to do it again.
Worst part for me was trying to finagle the hoses into position without bending or breaking them. It helps if you can grow a couple of extra arms and hands.
mine arent leaking under the isolator, the lines looked amazingly good under there. I'll probably just clean the rubber up and reinstall it. Mine is leaking near the crimp and the cooler is toast.I would also remove that rubber isolator on the top of the shock tower. That's the cause of the rotting lines as water gets trapped in there. I did and just zip tied them to each other as a preventive, hoping to never having to do this.
yes, old seals removed, bolt torqued to 106 in-lbs per manual...Did you remove the old seals first? Also, that 8MM (I believe) bolt doesn't get much torque, be careful tightening it.
It is leaking from the pressure line where the new style o-rings are. The return line still uses the old cup seal and I did install a new seal on that. The pressure line is not seating fully even with the bolt tightened fully, I can physically move the pressure line and see oil leak around it. I think it is a faulty line connector and or mount plate. I purchased the AC-Delco lines direct from rockauto. I will have to pull the connection out and check the o-rings. I wish I still had the original installation sheet for it, but I tossed that along with the old cup seals.The return line doesn't have a "new style" with o-rings I didn't think. The return cup seal stays in the rack every time I've removed a line (way too many times now!), so as long as you don't scratch it up it should seal up since it's not really dealing with much pressure. If you removed the cup seal though I'd be amazed if it's not puking out fluid.
Also, there's a few places for fluid to leak that all look like it's coming from the same place. I had leaks from the pressure lines from the control valve to the cylinder itself, and also had one catastrophically leak out of the steering input shaft seal, filled up my steering shaft boot with 1.5 qts of PS fluid in a hurry.
Problem is, I don't know where to find new orings for the pressure line... it doesnt use the old cap seals....When I replaced my steering rack recently, the rack came with two new seals, one for each line.
I would replace both seals with new ones, then further assess the situation.
New design lines.. they use oring on pressure side instead of cup sealShould be avail from the dealer.
@coolasice Edit. What is different about your steering lines and rack?
cooler was new with lines, it's coming from near the inlet lines to the rack, but i can't visibly see it leaking. i've had it running for 20 minutes and not seen a drop under the truck, its bafflingMaybe the rack itself or the cooler?
tried that... lock to lock held while revving, no drip... took it for a short ride earlier... its now sitting with cardboard under it...It may not leak with the steering wheel centered. IIRC the center position has the pressures balanced and the pump doesn't really have much to do.
You may want to try putting it on jack stands and turning all the way one-way then the-other to extend the rack while revving the engine to develop pressure in the pump.
I strongly advise against doing this. Guys have destroyed their pumps essentially doing donuts in snow at full lock. Snaps the pump shaft.lock to lock held while revving
When I say revving I meant 2-3k, not full bore...I strongly advise against doing this. Guys have destroyed their pumps essentially doing donuts in snow at full lock. Snaps the pump shaft.
It's an 08, there are no end links... It's a straight shaft like older trucks. It's the left side I know, not sure if I got the lower arm bolts tight enough,. I had to guessetsimate as I couldn't get in there with my long torque wrench for the rear bolts.The end links? Those things can loosen up by breathing on them it seems. I threw the torque specs out the windows and get them solid by
1) Using red loctite
2) tighten them down by hitting with a hammer
3) let the vehicle sit for 24 hours to let the loctite firm up.
Of course, you will need the hot wrench to remove them in the future, but here in the rust belt where I live I get that out anytime I'm doing suspension work anyway. If you can find a speed bump to go over slowly with just one wheel you can narrow it down sometimes.
Yea, at the fitting... there is only an o-ring on the pressure line (new style crap)... I ordered a gates old style line... hopefully that fixes the issue.. just have to wait for amazon to ship it. Also ordered a new switch... not ac-delco, another brand that had good reviews. acdelco still makes both parts, just none to be had in stock, lead times are january for most stuff. also ordered a new steering wheel position sensor as mine has gotten flaky again.I think OEM and ACDelco are dropping our platform since it has been out of production for over 10 years now as their parts are getting harder to find. The ignition switch you might still be able to find. I Googled D1426D and AutoZone shows as still available.
Where is it leaking? If it's at the rack fitting, could just be the seals.