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Good afternoon,

Can anyone help me please? Checked my levels the other day and topped up the power steering fluid. Just been under the car to change the oil and there is fluid everywhere, and the power steering reservoir is below minimum level, that and the yellowy colour of the fluid tells me its a leak with the power steering. Checking the reservoir and pump at the top of the engine i could see no visible leaks, so its at the bottom somewhere. One of the hoses seems to run in front of the radiator right at the bottom, and this is covered in fluid, I think this is a power steering hose, is this correct? It all seems to be in one piece, but as i have no one around at the minute to operate the power steering while im under the car i cant locate where the leak is, but it appears to be the one described above. Can anyone with experience of this give any advice please?

Thanks




 
Its a common issue on the diesel Accords with the power steering hose and front cooler pipe

Two common areas.

The front cooler pipe, it sits in front of the radiator. Its a long horizontal pipe which stretches the length of the front rad, you can just about see it through the lower bumper grill.
This pipe will perish over time as it sits at the front and exposed to all the salt, water and weather.

I replaced mine last year as it was rusting away and small drops of fluid were seen dripping at the front whilst I was washing the car one time. Quite lucky actually.
It was easy to change, front bumper off and unhook the pipe clamps.
Didn't see anyone after market parts, so had to buy genuine Honda. Not cheap!


The second most common is the top high [pressure power steering hose. If you look at the aux belt on the left hand side of the engine the top of the aux belt system drives a large pulley, this pulley is the power steering pump. The hose that connects to it and feeds to the back direct to the steering rack is the power steering high pressure hose.
Where the hose is anchored with a bracket is usually where the hose breaks and starts leaking over time due to the vibrations.
I just replaced mine, the lower steering rack bolt was a little tough to undo but cracked it open in the end.

Hope this helps.

Couple of other threads relating to the issue
http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/25281-accord-high-pressure-power-steering-hose/

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/14068-power-steering-pipe-replacement-or-repair/
 
Thanks a bunch Alex, very helpful.
There is definitely no leak near the PS pump, its at the bottom somewhere. Ill remove the bumper and have a look when i get time.
Cheers
 
Sounds familiar, Alex has covered all the bases and it sounds like cooler pipe to me too. You have two options either replace like for like but as said it is expensive or cut out the rotten pipe and replace with an actual oil cooler which cost me about £60. If I find some pics I'll try and post'em up.

I used a mishimoto oil cooler and tied it in through the rad, I think this is the size I used but you better check if you decide to go this route...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mishimoto-MMTC-U-Universal-Transmission-Cooler-and-Power-Steering-Cooler/163392338431?epid=1030681568&hash=item260af139ff:g:lxwAAOSwIztclOda
 
Your welcome Paul.

Definitely sounds like the cooler pipe is the issue.

Here are a few pics of when I changed mine. The power steering system is not pressurised so its as easy as a pipe swap change.

If you go the OEM route, I would recommend checking the clamp clips as these can seized up and order new ones, and ordered new plastic clamps for the pipe too.
You could possibly just use a cable tie for the hose connections but these hoses do carry alot of pressure so may not be reliable, especially being behind the bumper and not easily accessed.

Could use this opportunity to do a flush of the power steering fluid too.
When you do remove the pipe, have a bucket ready as there would be alot of fluid in the pipe and the reservoir to drip out.
Use hose squeeze clamps if you have them.

My perished cooler pipe and location of the leak

fF9Fqpg.jpg



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View with bumper removed

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New pipe ordered and fitted

T0Xyd3K.jpg


8KWdsqx.jpg



Ordered mine from coxmotorparts.
Contact them if you need the mount clips and pipe fasteners
https://www.coxmotorparts.co.uk/honda-shop/genuine-honda-accord-power-steering-oil-cooler/


Use Honda247 for power steering fluid. Order above £20 ish for free post
https://www.hondaparts247.co.uk/collections/genuine-honda-service-kit/products/genuine-honda-psf-s-power-steering-fluid-1-litre


FYI - Cooler pipe started to leak on 15-07-18 @ 184,700 miles (my commute is approx 1800 miles a month)
(My accord is a 2006 model)


Hope this helps
Keep us posted on how you get on.
 
Thanks again guys.
Tony, if i go down the new rad route (as i cant find a replacemement part at anything like a reasonable price), was yours easy to fit? How do you decide what size is required?
Regarding fitting, do you push the plastic fasteners through both rads and then put the clip on the back, like i did on a kit car with the fan many years ago? Thinking about doing it like that sounds a bit 'flimsy'.
Alex, thanks for the pics and info, very helpful.

Thank you both.
 
Just had the bumper off and had a look. The 'top' pipe that runs in front of the radiator weeps when the engine is running. I haven't been able to find a replacement part, apart from new from honda, so im off to halfords for some fixx-it self amalgamating tape as a temporary fix.
Tony, I spoke to Mishimoto and they said they couldn't help, I don't think they really understood what i was trying to do. When you did yours, did you replace the entire rubber pipe from the top reservoir outlet to the new rad, as the current rubber pipe leaving the reservoir quickly joins the metal pipework?
A local hydraulics firm said they could possibly help, but they need the original pipe, which makes it awkward as the car would then be off the run. But if its easy enough to remove the part, that may be the best option.
Cheers again guys.
 
Hi Paul

Yes it's pretty easy to fit and no I basically cut out the corroded section only which was most of the actual PS cooler pipe loop (section in front of actual rad) I didn't need to go anywhere near the pipe near resevoir as it wasn't corroded. The rad just sits on the same member as your main rad and as you say attached by threading the tie fastners through. As long as your actual rad your attaching the cooler rad to isn't disintegrating it isn't going anywhere as long as it's firmly tied.

I can double check size of actual miishimoto rad tomorrow and see if I can get some pics to help and post them on here tomorrow sometime. I've messaged you my mobile number and you can txt or call me if you get really stuck, it's not too difficult a job if you have a few skills.

A hydraulic firm could make you a section of pipe to replace the corroded section, a plumber could do the same with copper pipe but you're still faced with connecting new to old which you can do with PS hose and and jubilee clips as well as attaching it securely, the kit above has everything you need for the job.

https://imgur.com/a/0UxzCey

Green dot = leak
Red dot = pipe cut
Pink dot = PS cooler rad placement.

Sorry for graphics and thanks for use of image Alex, how do you post image on forum can't seem to work it out?
 
Good stuff guys!

Let us know which route you end up taking.
Interesting to see if there is a cheap reliable fix to this, without going OEM
 
Well I for sure cant work out how to add pics either on my laptop or my phone!
Amazon have a Mishimoto cooler, sized at 12 x 7.5 inch, for £34, so im going to order that. That way I can replace the knackered pipe without needing to wait for someone to make up the new pipe. Although the original pipe I'm cutting out is longer than 12", the fact that the pipe runs 6 times through the new cooler I think would make up for the difference, therefore I ***ume there is no lack of cooling ability within the system.
One thought I've had, when I plumb in the new system, will I need to somehow bleed the system, or will just running the car fill the system and any air end up in the reservoir?

Cheers gents.
 
That's a great deal but I'm not absolutely certain you have the 7.5 inches for that "6 line " cooler rad to fit flush against your main rad. I know the "4 line" in the link that I posted earlier will fit but give it ago and see.

Two advisories...the PS steel pipe you cut away is very thin, possibly corroded and therefore very sharp, do what you can to remove the burrs and take the edge of them before attempted to push on the rubber PS hose from the kit or it'll slice and therefore weaknen it. As there is no lip on that pipe as you would normally get with a hydraulic line unless you're going to use a former I doubled up on the clips on that connection to be sure, a quid or two from halfords.

Hope that is all clear, good luck.
 
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Good point Tony. Just had a rough measure up, but I'd only removed the grill so hampered a little, but it appears there is only about 7" max height from where the current rad sits to the cross member above. So i cancelled the order, and ordered a rad sized 12" x 5". Not quite as long as yours, but hopefully will do the job. Plus its less than £20 so if all goes to plan a very cheap fix.
Did you bleed the system after you fitted the new rad? Also, as you chopped the old pipe it wont have a 'bulge' at the end like the new rad pipes have, did you have any issues with the rubber hose trying to slide off the cut pipework?
Cheers again.
 
I think my cooler rad is actually the "12 x 5" version, so blimey you did much better than me cost wise, post a link for others unless it's coming from China and it's going to take a month.

I just cut the corroded pipe and let the system bleed out into a container, once you've installed the oil rad top the system up with fresh fluid and switch on your vehicle, gently turn your steering lock to lock a few times should allow it to "self bleed" then top up if necessary, I didn't have any issues with the rubber hose pulling off because I used two clips per pipe and it's been on for a for a few years now with no issues.

While I remember if you still have it attached you'll have to remove the bottom tray beneath your engine to access the back of the main rad so you can push the connecting ties through. Also access to the back of the main rad is limited which is why I positioned oil cooler as far to the right (as you look at the car) as I possibly could, hope that makes sense but see images below.

ggtxWuK.jpg




6rxgQpT.jpg
 
Hi folks! I'm in exactly the same scenario and going with the £20 ish replacement oil cooler from amazon, so far i've been successful in cutting off the rusty side of the cooler pipe but really struggling to get the supplied rubber hosing onto the good remaining honda metal (lol). I don't have a swaging tool to expand the tubing. What would you reccomend that I do to push the hosing far enough on (i can get it about 3cm at the moment.) Vaseline, heat?
 
Thanks for some great information and tips posted by everyone.
Yesterday I sorted the leaking cooler on my 2007 Accord 2.2 CDTI Exec.
I went down the non OEM route and bought a Hayden 401 oil cooler from Ebay and a 1 m length of reinforced Fuel/Oil Hose SAE 100 R6 (SAE R6 is not recommended as a fuel hose, it is strictly oil resistant), also from Ebay.
I didn't mount the new radiator onto the main radiator as the fans prevent easy access so I made a couple of aluminium brackets and mounted these between the crash beam and car body. The trickiest bit was removing the bumper where it is clipped onto the metal rail under the headlights: it needs a bit of patience, brute force and care! Getting the hoses on the rack pipework and filler bottle also took a bit of brute force, oil and hair drier warming of the end of the hose.
I used the 1 m hose for the rack to cooler line and the shorter one supplied with the Hayden kit between the filler and the cooler.
Anyway I've attached a few photographs which may be useful.

Refilled with Honda PS Fluid, engine ran for 2 minutes with slight steering movements to bleed out air and leak checked, ready for the bumper to go back on:

IMG_0202.JPG

The brackets are pop riveted at the top and M4 bolted at the bottom. The black disks are where the new radiator is zip tied onto the brackets (the zip ties come with the kit along with 4 jubilee clips ( I used the old clips at the filler tank and rack ends):

IMG_0205.JPG

The bits I disposed of:

IMG_0203.JPG
 
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