NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

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Geoff
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NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

Postby Geoff » Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:32 am

This thread should be titled "Yet another reason why old SAABs are better than new SAABs" o_O

My wife has a '99 9-3 with ~270k miles. The power steering systems on these cars are whacky (let alone the whole suspension system). The fluid reservoir is near the rack inlets but the pump is on the opposite corner of the engine bay resulting in a long convoluted system of lines. A few years back it started leaking fluid from the high pressure line where it attaches to the rack. There's a banjo bolt and fitting there with aluminum seals. Those seals corroded and I replaced them with copper seals from an auto parts store (the replacement aluminum seals from Eeuro didn't fit...). Soon after that the high pressure line, which runs across the front crossmember, started to leak. It turns out these things rot out. They're made from 3 or 4 different sections, the total cost is somewhere around $800 to replace and of course the lines rust together so when one fails you have to replace another.

So I decided that I'd replace all the lines with -6 AN fittings, lines, flex sections, etc. I bought a bunch of pieces and for around $100 I was able to make new lines. The only line I didn't replace was a short section of hard line which plumbs into the rack - the same piece with the banjo fitting where I had to replace the seals earlier. This section was fine and disconnected easily from the mating line. I had intended to replace it but I couldn't find the right size banjo -AN fitting.

Some photos of the lines
Metric Saginaw type adapter to -6 AN with flared hardline and AN nut at the power steering pump:
IMG_0072.JPG
Metric Saginaw to -6 AN adapter in the PS pump

Hard line to about 9" of flex line with fittings I built back to hard line (at the bottom)
IMG_0075.JPG
Hard line to -6 AN flex line to hard line

Hard line as it passes by the reservoir into a 12" section of flex line back to hard line
IMG_0073.JPG
Hard line near reservoir to flex line back to hard line


Parts list and more "fun" later...
The kind of dirty that doesn't wash off :eyebrows:

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Luke
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Re: NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

Postby Luke » Mon Aug 27, 2012 3:01 pm

Wow Geoff, way to go, an upgrade and money savings at the same time!

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Geoff
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Re: NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

Postby Geoff » Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:37 am

Luke wrote:Wow Geoff, way to go, an upgrade and money savings at the same time!


For a living I design parts that work better and cost less than the components they're replacing. But I don't repair leaky valve cover gaskets :P

Parts list:
1 - -6AN to Saginaw power steering adapter (Male)
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EAR-991955ERL
Image
(plugs into pump)

1 roll - 3/8" steel line

4 - -6AN tube sleeves
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EAR-581906erl
Image

4 - -6AN tube nuts
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EAR-581806ERL/
Image

3 - -6AN male hose ends
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EAR-840106ERL/
Image

1 - -6AN female hose end
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EAR-800106ERL/
Image

1 - -6AN to 16mm Saginaw power steering adapter (female)
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EAR-9894DBJERL/
Image
This attaches to the short stock hard line that goes to the rack on the 9-3.

2 feet or -6AN braided hose (not the cheap stuff!)

The hose coming out of the power steering pump is hard to do because it has to be bent in a very tight radius. I ended up shortening the tube sleeve so that I could slide it up the bend as much as I could so I could flare the tube as close to the bend as I could. I also ended up relieving the head a tiny bit with an angle grinder to get the proper clearance.
The kind of dirty that doesn't wash off :eyebrows:

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Geoff
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Re: NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

Postby Geoff » Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:11 am

And now the "fun" part. :rolleyes:

The car needed a new rack so I figured that if the original lasted ~250k+ miles a used one would be fine. So I got a junkyard rack almost a year ago but never got a chance to put it in, and didn't really need to, until recently. It turns out I got a NoGood 900 rack instead of a 9-3 rack which I found out when trying to take the old one out. I couldn't get it out because the NG rack is mounted with 4 bolts but the 9-3 rack has a 5th hidden bolt. After I did some cleaning and put the new rack in I couldn't get the banjo bolt to thread into the rack on the high pressure side. The 9-3 rack is 16mm x 1.5 banjo (but also looks like its made for 16mm Saginaw like the first adapter above that plugs into the PS pump). It turns out that the NG rack is 18 x 1.5 Saginaw, the NG rack doesn't use a banjo.

I tried to find parts to plumb into the rack locally but had no luck. So I had to dig into my parts bin. I found that I had a new transmission oil fill plug for my 9000 which had the same thread.
IMG_0054.JPG
9000 etc. fill plug

I had also bought a -6 AN Banjo fitting with a 14 x 1.5 bolt that didn't fit the project I was using it for.
Image
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/UIS-8021550/

So I lined up the plug on my drill press, drilled a pilot hole, and then worked up to a larger size drill, eventually ending with 1/2". I marked the drill bit with a Sharpie so I could track depth. This is for Jordan :P
IMG_0057.JPG
Sharpie

Then I tapped it to 14 x 1.5 (coincidentally the largest tap size I own) and block sanded the surface to get rid of the "Gear Oil Only" inscription.
IMG_0060.JPG
18 x 1.5 to 14 x 1.5 adapter
The kind of dirty that doesn't wash off :eyebrows:

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Geoff
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Re: NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

Postby Geoff » Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:22 am

I then had to make another hard line to attach to the lines I had already built. Below are the new line and the old line.
IMG_0062.JPG
PS lines to rack

Removal of the female Saginaw adapter from the line I built and replacing it with a male -6 coupler let the new line attach to the other line I had built.
Image
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-220632/

I then threaded the adapter I built into the rack along with a copper crush washer and a coating of Loctite 518 for good measure. This allowed the new Banjo bolt to thread into the adapter (and thus the rack).
IMG_0069.JPG
New line and adapter in rack

The only problem is that the original setup had a check valve in the banjo bolt. I wasn't able to do that with this but oh well. If I were to be doing the other lines at the same time I would have run straight under the brake booster which may prevent need for a check valve, but I already had the other lines built.

After looking at things more I see there is a 16x1.5 -6AN Banjo fitting available that would work great in the stock rack.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/UIS-8021560/
It could possibly also be used in the PS pump in place of the Saginaw adapter. This could save some space and make the job easier.
The kind of dirty that doesn't wash off :eyebrows:

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Jordan
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Re: NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

Postby Jordan » Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:23 am

Lol.

That's a lot of effort to make it work! Nice going.

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Geoff
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Re: NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

Postby Geoff » Thu Aug 30, 2012 1:00 pm

Jordan wrote:Lol.

That's a lot of effort to make it work! Nice going.


Yeah, unfortunately it was: make an adapter or put the old (sloppy) rack back in so she could get to work. The adapter and new line took way too long but I thought it would be better to just get the job done. Now it turns out the servo is leaking on the "new" rack so it has to be replaced again and because of the layout it's leaking into the passenger compartment. These cars stink.
The kind of dirty that doesn't wash off :eyebrows:

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Re: NG900/9-3 Power Steering BS

Postby SwedeSport » Thu Aug 30, 2012 1:12 pm

Geoff wrote: These cars stink.



Nothing like an old C900!
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