power steering help

my car is leaking ps fluid where the hard lines screw into the rack. at first it was a drip now its almost a constant stream. anyhow my question is how do u get in there to take the lines off. do i have to drop the rack? what size is the line? if my description is a lil to vague i can snap some pictures off. thanks for any help
joe

I think you would have to remove the hard lines before removing the rack either way. Once you get the lines off you'll see some o-rings and how it all works. Yes it is a bit of a pain to get a box wrench in there, a crows foot helps, but it is doable. I think I got replacement o-rings off the shelf at Napa. Note: itt's normal for the lines to be able to swivel/move once it is tightened down. Good luck!

What I do is unbolt the rack, and pull it forward several inches, and then undo the fittings. With the car on jackstands and the front wheels free to move, you should be able to do this without removing the tie rod ends from the steering knuckle.

jeff, i read on a previous post you said to undo the pinch bolt. what is a pinch bolt and where is it. its the only thing keeping the rack on the car now

well i cant order in the hard lines from anywhere, ford dosent supply a new rack, napa dose not carry hard lines. looks like im gonna be driving an 85 omni for a while till i can fab up some new lines. thanks everyone for your help

I got my rack from NAPA. You keep saying hard lines, but none of the lines in mine are hard, except the one on the rack. The main pressure line has fittings on the ends of a soft line, and the return is just a clamped soft line. What am I misunderstanding?????

the two on the rack itself are hard. the other two, the main pressure line and return are also hard at the rack, there about 2 feet long then are attached with hose clamps to rubber lines. i guess someone had been in there before

NAPA part numbers;
Pressure hose NPS72202
Return hose NPS71977
Rack, sport suspension NRP 22207

These are OEM equivalent replacements and are currently available. As a matter of interest all engines use the same hoses so if you checked with NAPA there may be a glitch with the 4 cyl engine listing.

awsome thanks a lot don

ive got all my hose's and steel lines bent up and ready to go back in the car. problem is when i was removing them i forgot to write down where they went. does anyone know wich hoses go where on the rack?