Ps Resevoir Inlet Hose

[AzHotLS]

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to remove the power steering reservoir inlet hose? I can't seem to get it off. I can twist it a bit but just can't pull if off, I'm about to cut it off!! I may have to anyway as in the process of trying, when I bend the hose just past the neck, I see a slight crack. If I do cut if off, how do I remove the lower clip? Can I just get any old piece of 3/8" hose and cut it to length or do I need to get the hose from the dealer?

It's very frustrating that I can't get it off, especially after I spent so much time fighting under the car to get the solenoid off to clean the screens. I thought the hose would be the least of my worries.

[95LS400Bob]

Mine was like that...I think I cracked the hose when I was putting on motor mounts. The hose seemed almost formed to the fitting...maybe from heat. I just cut it off and replaced the hose with a piece of automatic transmission cooling line hose...which is rated for atf. Have had no problems since.

[monarch]

First you have to loosen the hose clamp. You can use channel lock pliers or vice grips to compress the twho tangs on the clamp while pulling the hose away to remove it. It's much easier to get any hose off a engine if the engine is warmed up first. Auto parts stores also carry tools specifically made to loosen these types of hose clamps.

If you cut the old hose off you should buy a new hose from a Lexus dealer or a place like irontoad.com. that sells genuine Lexus parts at a discount. Toyota / Lexus hoses have premolded contours and the rubber is uniquely compounded for strength and durability. Lexus hoses also use metric inside and outside diameters so a 3/8" hose from an auto parts store will not fit as precisely and securely.

I would be interested in hearing about the method you used to loosen and remove the solenoid. Did you use channel lock pliers or a chisel or some other method to loosen it?

[92Lex]

Use a flat head screwdriver, brace the driver against the resevoir for leverage and slide the hose off of the inlet.

[99lsguy]

Use a flat head screwdriver, brace the driver against the resevoir for leverage and slide the hose off of the inlet.

←

That's the way to do it

Use a small head screwdriver, and work very slowly around and down....remember - that hose has never been off before....

My PS hose was stubborn too and it is only a 4 1/2 year old car at the time.

[914lps]

I had the same ordeal. It took 3 of us to work it off. Two pushing with screwdrivers and one twisting the hose left to right. I though we were going to pull the fitting off the reservoir! It was also hard to get back on

[AzHotLS]

Had to wait for the rain to stop before I could proceed as the car is outside.

I ended up cutting off the hose as the only thing the screwdriver did was eat up the end of the hose. I just couldn't get it to budge. I used 3/8" ATF hose as Bob suggested. I bought 2 feet worth and cut it to length after I got lower end put on. I ended up using about a foot and a half to make sure it wasn't kinked. Before putting the new hose on, I used ATF fluid to "grease" up the inside of the hose and fittings at each end and held the ends over my droplight to warm them up. It was still hard to get on but it worked.

monarch, to loosten the solenoid, I sprayed it with WD40 a couple of times then used regular joint (channel lock) pliers. I believe mine is a 10". With the car up on jacks with the wheels just barely off the ground, I wrapped my left arm around the suspension arm to get a good angle to grip and turn the pliers. I couldn't get the electrical wire connection off so I was just careful not to twist it too bad when unscrewing the solenoid. I pre-twisted it the other way before !Removed! it back on to make sure it was straight afterwards.

To clean the screens, I used WD40 followed by Simple Green. WOW, that's what the power steering is supposed to feel like. I always thought the steering was a little stiff due to the car's weight. What a difference cleaning the solenoid screen makes. The car has 110K miles and I don't know if it was cleaned previously, probably not.

Doing the flush seems to also have minimized the vibration I was feeling through the steering wheel. There has always (since I've owned it last July) been a vibration in the car at speeds over 65. It's almost gone now. When I have the opportunity I'll check the rotors next to see if they're warped and the cause of my vibration. I say that because when I apply the brakes lightly, I can feel it in the steering wheel. I've seen all the posts on vibrations but I'll start with the rotors before checking the bushings.

I've attached two photos of my setup based on directions found at the lexls site:

http://www.lexls.com/psflush.html

I wouldn't have attempted to try this if it wasn't for this forum and the lexls site. It gives you the confidence to be a DIYer and a resource when you run into problems.

THANKS!!

[AzHotLS]

While the power steering is still working wonderfully, I still have a whirring sound. Is that telling me the pump is going bad?

Somone (not here) mentioned that there is an addative that is supposed to clean out the system which could help, any thoughts on such an addative?