Truck: 2004 1500 4DR 2WD Dodge Hemi 48K miles

Well, after going through all of these power steering fluid leak threads, I see I'm not alone. I'm glad I found this place. I had my truck in for tranny and rear differential service last week. They call me from the dealership and claim I have a bad power steering hose and they would replace it for $220 plus tax. This was a surprise. I just changed the oil myself 3 days earlier. Did not notice any fluid leakage from the power steering hose/rack/reservoir area and did not and never have had any drippage on my shop floor. Being leery, I told my trustworthy dealer negatory on the power steering hose change. Figured I check this out myself. Next evening, I have some drippage on the concrete floor and look up underneath at the power steering area and see leakage. It appears to be coming from the hose connecting the cooler to the steering gear, with the leak at the hose connection to the steering gear. At this connection there is not a "pinch" clamp as there is on the other 3 ends. There appears to be some kind of fastener band/clamp that I'm not familiar with and not sure if it even is a fastener. Prior to finding this excellent forum, I conversed with a knowledgeable guy on another one and this is what he told me about the connection in question:

"...There should be one hose that has pinch clamps at both ends-this one goes from the cooler to the reservoir. The other side goes from the cooler to the steering gear. The gear connection should have a threaded fitting on it. The clamp you are describing is a one use style and is usually the cause of the leak that you get. So just unscrew that fitting on the gear and screw the new one in...(from a new purchased hose kit)".

Did that sound familiar to anyone?
I did not see this described on any of the threads/posts on the Dodge Forum or anywhere else. So, I'm thinking there should have been "pinch" clamp, at this connection and some how it 'mysteriously' disappeared? Whether it did or didn’t, I'm going to put a worm gear hose clamp on it (as well as on the other 3 connections), unless someone reading this tells me otherwise. Both original hoses look fine.
Hope this makes sense and hope it wasn't too much info.
Thanks in advance,
Jack

 

When I had a leak with the PS fluid all I needed to do was tighten a clamp and it was all set I didn't need to replace anything..there is nothing you can tighten that seems loose on the hoses though?

 

Yeah, check out the pic in this thread...this shows where you need to install the clamp.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...cs-please.html

 

I just replaced a similar hose on my fathers F-150. The clamp was almost rusted off on the hose that I replaced. Same style clamp your describing. His was on the return side so it was leaking, but not bad enough he couldn't add fluid and keep driving. I just replaced the entire hose because he had a wear mark on his where the clamp used to be.

 

Thanks for the replies. After taking a better look at the power steering hose connection in question, I see the clamp/band on this end of the hose is a 1-Ear clamp (see pictures). The other 3 hose clamps are spring clamps (I called them "pinch" clamps in my original post). I'm going to put screw/band-worm gear style clamps at all 4 connections and see what happens. The replacing of the "threaded fitting" was throwing me off before (which isn't hard to do), but I think I follow what the guy was referring to now. I will let all know if the new clamps work after giving it a week or so.

 

Yep, put a clamp in the hose with the plastic ribbing on it. That be the same one I had leaking.

 

I put a hose clamp on my truck yesterday, but if you do that, unless either you have the 2006+, it's really hard to get in under there. I also noticed on mine a leak returning from the cooler. So let us know what you do and how it works for you. I hope that two hose clamps will fix my problem. Also, would it be better to use a 1.25" or 1" hose clamp? I used a 1.25" and it seemed rather large for putting on, but still worked.

 

I have an '05 and didn't have too much of an issue getting it in, but mine's 4x4 with the T-bars cranked a bit, so I could just crawl under. I checked all my other fittings, nothing else was loose. It's been cold and snowy here, so I haven't checked to see if there's still any leakage. Once this weather breaks, I'm gonna take the truck to a car wash and try to get some degreaser on the front end and see how it cleans up.

 

Hello to all interested,

It's been almost 2 weeks and I'm pleased to say the 5/16" screwband wire clamps I installed are working. No sign of any leakage/drippage. I purchased 4 of these clamps at the Ace hardware store for about $3.50. The dealership wanted to charge me $230 to replace the hoses/fluid. The hose kit itself was going to be $40 plus cost of new fluid to replace myself.
This forum and its members saved me a lot of money which means alot during these tough economic times!

Thanks!

Jack

 

awesome, glad to hear all is doing well. i'm pretty sure mine is fixed too...but it's been too cold and i've been too lazy to get under and find out.