New to the group, and not sure I'm in the right forum. Please advise if this belongs somewhere else.
I have a 1999 Prerunner with a 3.4Lv6 engine, 240K miles. I'm rebuilding the steering system. Of course, one of the new items is the pressure hose from the pump to the steering rack. After trying twice, once with the old bolt and new copper seals, I couldn't get the banjo joint to seal. Then I bought new seals and a new bolt from the Dealer, and it was better but not quite dry (very slow flow behind one of the seals, but not drivable).
So I broke down and bought a new aftermarket pump. Although the new bolt, the new banjo end of the pressure line, and the new pump port fitting are all visually identical to the old ones, the logic of the design is a bit mysterious. I'd like someone to tell me "It's OK, just put it on and tighten it until all seams stop leaking."
The bottom of the bolt seats against a male flare fitting (brass) at the base of the pump pressure port. The very tip end of the female flare on the bolt is very rough, and clearly would not seal against anything, but the taper in the flare is well-machined. So since the brass flare inside the original pump is unscored, I'm assuming the rough bolt tip is not part of the seal. (Again, the original and new Toyota bolts appear identical.) When the bolt is put in finger-tight, I can feel it bottoming against the internal brass flare, and the banjo is snug, but can be rotated freely by hand. In other words, on tightening the bolt, 10 surfaces are all supposed to meet and seal several hundred pounds of pressure: the bolt head, both sides of the outer copper ring, both surfaces of the banjo, the inner copper ring, the welded nut on the pump, and the internal flare.
Sorry to be so wordy on my first post, but I'm trying to be complete, and maybe help out others who are running up against this for the first time. And no, I am not going to file or sand any of the surfaces, as ALL of the YouTube vids I've watched suggest, and I have done myself successfully on other makes. It will only widen the "crush gap" in this design.
Am I overlooking some other factor here? I'm asking cuz I want this car back together and running. I've been fussing with this for 3 weeks, now.
Thanks a lot for any advice.
I have a 1999 Prerunner with a 3.4Lv6 engine, 240K miles. I'm rebuilding the steering system. Of course, one of the new items is the pressure hose from the pump to the steering rack. After trying twice, once with the old bolt and new copper seals, I couldn't get the banjo joint to seal. Then I bought new seals and a new bolt from the Dealer, and it was better but not quite dry (very slow flow behind one of the seals, but not drivable).
So I broke down and bought a new aftermarket pump. Although the new bolt, the new banjo end of the pressure line, and the new pump port fitting are all visually identical to the old ones, the logic of the design is a bit mysterious. I'd like someone to tell me "It's OK, just put it on and tighten it until all seams stop leaking."
The bottom of the bolt seats against a male flare fitting (brass) at the base of the pump pressure port. The very tip end of the female flare on the bolt is very rough, and clearly would not seal against anything, but the taper in the flare is well-machined. So since the brass flare inside the original pump is unscored, I'm assuming the rough bolt tip is not part of the seal. (Again, the original and new Toyota bolts appear identical.) When the bolt is put in finger-tight, I can feel it bottoming against the internal brass flare, and the banjo is snug, but can be rotated freely by hand. In other words, on tightening the bolt, 10 surfaces are all supposed to meet and seal several hundred pounds of pressure: the bolt head, both sides of the outer copper ring, both surfaces of the banjo, the inner copper ring, the welded nut on the pump, and the internal flare.
Sorry to be so wordy on my first post, but I'm trying to be complete, and maybe help out others who are running up against this for the first time. And no, I am not going to file or sand any of the surfaces, as ALL of the YouTube vids I've watched suggest, and I have done myself successfully on other makes. It will only widen the "crush gap" in this design.
Am I overlooking some other factor here? I'm asking cuz I want this car back together and running. I've been fussing with this for 3 weeks, now.
Thanks a lot for any advice.
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