How do you remove and replace the high pressure power steering hose from the steering rack? Do you have to raise the engine and drop the steering rack or what? I don't see a way to get your hands in there and a wrench to loosen the fitting holding the hose end in the back side of the rack. And how do you open the clamp that holds the steel pressure tubing to the steering rack?

Usually, an 18mm crows foot or line wrench, with a universal and extension does the job...of course I am use to doing it on a lift, rather than the ground....sometimes you can get at it from above with a long extension in the engine compartment...

Are you talking about the plastic clamp? Just spread the teeth of the connector....

Thank you,I was actually thinking about a crows foot but wasn't sure if you could get enough power on the fitting without rounding it off, the top fitting on the pump was so damned tight. I'll look and see if I can find a line wrench type crows-foot end. My eyes are getting pretty bad for looking under the car with a flashlight and seeing how to release that damned plastic clamp, I see how you release the teeth on that clamp, figured as much.

Thanks,
Steven

If that don't work dropping the cat lets you get at it with all kinds of room.

I got at it with of all things a crescent wrench. It surely wasn't an 18mm or a 19mm and none of my standard line wrench sizes fit. It must be some special GM tool call-out. The fitting measures as 0.710" across the flats. It wasn't easy to get the rigid section out or back in but I managed to snake it back in. I though of taking the rear trans mount out but the bolt was so tight I just worked around it. The fitting on the top end that goes into the pump actually fit a 5/8" wrench the best.

Now I get to fix a fuel level gauge problem that I suspect means changing the fuel pump assembly. The gauge reads full for about a minute and then drops to empty and the low fuel light come on. This is with a full tank. Can't think of anything besides the float assembly causing this type of problem?

It was 18mm...they are all 18mm.....in fact, if you change 0,710 inches to mm, you get 18.034mm....it'* possible the nut was rounded off , and the crow'*/line wrench couldn't get on easily....

Just replace the fuel level sender...but if the pump is original, I would not want to do the job again, so I might replace the whole thing....

Well I tried the 18mm on both the old and the brand new fitting and it didn't fit, so it wasn't because it was rounded off. The 18 didn't fit and a 19mm was to loose. As I said the fitting at the pump end was a perfect fit for a 5/8" and no metric wrench fit tight there either. Don't ask me why. my tools are all older Craftsman and Snap-On so no cheap tools here. The crows foot line wrenches were brand new metric Craftsman so those weren't cheap tools I tried there, nothing fit tight.

I figure the pump and float assembly have about 140K miles on them so might as well replace them both. Engine runs nice, I've done the heads about 15K miles ago when I had a leaking head gasket so the motor seems strong.