How do you replace the power steering hoses in a 1993 Pontiac Sunbird V6 3.1 SE?

Answer 1

You need to first remove the serpentine belt on the left side of the engine, and locate your Power Steering pump. It is easy to find it has the plastic power steering fluid reservoir attached to it. remove the 3 bolts holding it on by sticking your socket tool through the holes drilled in the pulley. (the pulley needs a special puller to remove don't try it) So when you have the pump in your hand you will find it has 2 high pressure hoses coming out the back... loosen the fittings and remove them from the pump. At this point there will be power steering fluid squirting everywhere so make sure you have rags and a catch basin somewhere handy. Now take the lines and follow them back to where they connect to the power steering rack. They should have similar threaded fittings connecting them to the rack. remove these fittings and lift the hoses out of the vehicle being careful not to get the leaking steering fluid on your paint job. Now.... Hopefully you had the good sense to get your hoses first from the parts store and you should now take them out of the plastic and mount them to the power steering rack where you took off the old hoses. make sure you remember where each hose came from because they are different lengths. (These hoses are special hoses with steel inside) DO NOT KINK THE HOSES OR TRY TO REPLACE WITH SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE PROPER HIGH PRESSURE POWER STEERING HOSE THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS!!!! once the hoses are connected to the steering rack. take the power steering pump and connect the hoses to the fittings on the back. mount the pump back on the vehicle and replace the serpentine belt around all the pulleys.(check the diagram on the piece of plastic under the hood for routing the belt) Now the final part. fill the Power steering reservoir to the proper mark and recheck your work now. make sure you haven't left any tools laying about, now go inside and turn on the vehicle. At this point there should be a loud whinning/grinding sound DON'T WORRY this is normal. It is the pump cavitating and pushing the air out of the system. go inside and turn the steering wheel back and forth from left to right stop. a little while of this and the whining sound will go away as the air bubbles are worked out of the fluid. Now go back under the hood and check the pump's fluid level... it may have dropped a little bit depending on how much air has been worked out of the system