Power Steering cables wet (leak) question

[rjSupra]

Hi there.

I am new to the forum, but have been reading through it the last 10 months and think it's great. I bought a 1988 Supra Turbo Auto A/C Targa. Owned it for 10 months and finally put it out on the road this past week. I decided yesterday that I love it. Just rolled 130K miles and only driven her 250 miles in last 10 months. She sat a lot for 2004-2009 at least (unregistered), and was a 'barn find' although the owner's dad drove it up and down a private country lane every few months to keep it moving.

On test drive it drove like shit, no boost, low power, and howling steering with violent little protestations on turns feedback (minor little ones). The previous owner noted low PS fluid and said all it needed was fluid and it would be fine. Not the case. The steering was fantastic and perfect for the first day after I added the MercDex to full line (all I could locate) and 150 miles, then it spit it all out the bottom of engine bay at night (big puddle) and after driving it 30 miles the next day at night ( a lot less left to spill at that point - smaller puddle).

The pump itself is working, the steering is great when there's fluid to compress. The rack I think is fine, it steered fine when not running manually moving it around the driveway - as in like no power steering on a PS car would normally feel - a lot of effort but it worked correctly.

I have a pressure side lower large diameter cable coming out the PS reservoir up top. It's soaked. It's also soaked after the little insulator area before it heads underneath towards the rack. The lower banjo cable that connects the PS fluid back to the reservoir and to the pump (return), is also soaked, that shorter cable. The return from the rack is dry all the way.

So, my Question:
Can I either tighten the connections, clean them, or replace washers or hardware, or do I need to replace the whole cable.
I've never done a PS repair on any car or cable / hose replacement, but I've done clutch replacement in a Nissan LUV pickup truck, and a timing belt and valve timing adjustment in my Integra to give you an idea of my mechanical skills. No pro at all, and have lots to learn, but love working on old beauties like this one.

Other info on car:
Oil does not leak (really) in 10 months of mostly sitting and driving last week. Oil level correct. Boost is back in a bad ass way. (Stupidest reason in the world on 2 test drives - the old floor mat jamming up into the gas pedal trick - what a relief!!!) No idea if HG was ever done - I am sadly guessing it wasn't. Very low coolant level when I bought her. Babied her mostly so far although I've thrashed on the Turbo a few times at least to smile and smile like a little kid. My first Turbo car ever - first one I've driven even and really gotten on with real power.

A side note: aside from handling, can't imagine being without the Targa top - it's awesome and the reason I bought her. And I know auto sucks, but my Integra is a 5 speed, my other 'car' is a moto. This barn find happened to be a Auto although it comes with all the parts to swap it to manual. Dunno if I'll ever tackle that job unless the AT blows on me.

[Travis89Turbo]

Congrats on the supra and welcome to the forum this really is a great site....

If u like the car as an auto. Just wait till u drive a manual it is even better.. alot better in my opinion.

Now first off since u are not aware of previous service u need to pull the valve covers off and tighten the headgasket bolts as the factory under torqued them. Just do a search on it u will find a lot of info.

As for the powersteering u can replace the copper crush washers on the steering box hoses, there are 2 hoses there with two washers each. if its leaking over there. I am betting your leak is coming from the hose that goes into the reservoir I belive its a 3/8" hose and it just runs Underneath of the intake. There is a big hose that also runs from the reservoir to the pump. That could be leaking but i like to start with the easiest first.

[rjSupra]

Thanks Travis89!

I'll look into that. Never drove one of these with a manual, so I guess I have no idea how good it could be. I AM curious. The auto (turbo) has some pretty dramatic turbo lag which I've never dealt with before (no turbo in my past), and was sort of wondering about having full manual control of the gearbox and revs, and just how good that might be.

The Transmission switch seems pretty, uh, intimidating to me. I am keeping the parts in case, but... probably won't fix it if it ain't broke as they say for now.

I guess the original owner had it for a long time, and was a huge enthusiast of it, the car came with the original manual and some other goodies. I had hoped that he did the HG or had it done... sort of have been crossing my fingers. But yeah, I read here and on Wikipedia that Toy really dropped the ball and factory released them all flawed and under torqued. One thing I read today which makes me happy is the timing belt is not a 'zero clearance' motor like my older Integra - the timing belt snap on that model fries your motor.

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.