Originally Posted by
Mr._Graybeard
Johan, I'd suggest replacing the lower-pressure return hoses before touching the high-pressure stuff. They're a lot cheaper to replace and more likely to be the leakers, I believe, as they're held in place with standard hose clamps.
The tough ones to get to are the two short pieces of hose that connect the cooling loop to the system. They're under the brake booster, mounted on the frame rail on an LHD car. You'll have to remove the grille, headlight unit and cruise control actuator to get to them. Even then they're a pain to replace, but at least they cost next to nothing.
Perhaps the extended exposure to hot fluid hardens and shrinks them -- on my car I could rotate the hoses while they were mounted to the tubes with the factory clamps. Of course, they leaked badly, and spilled fluid onto the frame rail under the brake booster (which probably saved it from rusting after the master cylinder grommets leaked brake fluid in the same area and ate up the paint).
I believe there was an excellent how-to writeup in the archives, but now I can't find it. But you can see how things go together using the parts illustrations at realoem.com.
Another potential spot for leakage is where the return line connects to the power steering reservoir. Some folks just trim off the cracked end of the hose and reattach it with satisfactory results. If the reservoir is original, you may want to replace it -- the unit has a non-renewable filter.
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