help! power steering suction hose

["Gies, John" <JGies@skandia.com>]

i have found the most interesting problem with my power steering.  as
you may recall, it was leaking fluid rapidly and pumping air back into
the fluid container (lots of bubbles).  in addition, the pump was making
some funny noises.  well i found the leak.  the L-type metal pipe that
the suction hose attaches to has slipped out of it's place on the power
steering pump.  it doesn't appear to have broken, nor is there any
threads to screw it in place with a nut.  it just appears to be a fitted
piece that, for 113k, has operated fine.

now, for some reason, it has slipped out of place.  there is scoring on
the elbow of the bend in the L-pipe, which indicates that it hit
something (maybe got jarred in my recent frontal collision).  The shock
may have broken it loose from the pump unit.  in addition, the pipe
appears to have a slight bend in the section that inserts into the pump,
again indicating some strong shock.  that's my best guess.

I have checked the bentley to see if this piece is *supposed* to be
removable, and it does not address it.   Therefore, I believe that
trying to get it to stay in place again (i was thinking of hammering it
back in with a rubber hammer-the suction pulls in the direction of the
pump, so that may help as well) may be futile.

Any thoughts?  I'm planning to pick up a used pump ($50) at Adirondack
tomorrow (saturday).  If anyone has seen this before, and has a better
solution, i'd appreciate an email, hopefully tonite.

thanks!
john
jgies@skandia.com

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