Power Steering Hose Fell Off

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Moto Vita

Active member
Aqua Puttana said:
The clamp around the tube is to create an anchor point for a safety wire to hold the other clamp from sliding away.

A 2nd hose clamp is an easy way to create an anchor point. The safety wire could just as easily be tightly wrapped around the tubing and then wrapped around the existing hose clamp. That wire wrap anchor point will work very well with the NCV3 PS tube which has the factory bead.

I used a safety wire for my transmission hose connection. That hose was installed on a rusted cut off smooth tubing that didn't have a bead or hose barb. Without a safety wire eventually the pressure inside would push my hose off the smooth tubing. 2+ years on that repair and all is well.

A poor focus picture is here.
View attachment 119453

Note that without a bead to keep the wire in place I used the 90 degree angle of the tubing to have a wire wrap guaranteed to not slip.

A poorly executed diagram of the wire wrap method.
View attachment 119454

The transmission hose repair thread is here.

Transmission Line / Hose Emergency Repair
https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55553
:cheers: vic
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I think I would be inclined to put a plastic zip tie on the tube behind the hose stop and wire from the zip tie to the clamp. I'm not sure what metal the tube is but since it probably comes from an aluminum radiator it may be aluminum. I'd be concerned about the wire wearing into the metal tube, even though I'm sure it would take years if it would be an issue.
It would certainly be interesting to see what MB considers a fix. The issue seems to be well known among dealer service departments.
 
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220629

Well-known member
Moto Vita said:
I think I would be inclined to put a plastic zip tie on the tube behind the hose stop and wire from the zip tie to the clamp. I'm not sure what metal the tube is but since it probably comes from an aluminum radiator it may be aluminum. I'd be concerned about the wire wearing into the metal tube, even though I'm sure it would take years if it would be an issue.
It would certainly be interesting to see what MB considers a fix. The issue seems to be well known among dealer service departments.
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I suppose it could wear, but if the wire is tightly wound that shouldn't be an issue. A possible simple way to address your concern would be a couple wraps of vinyl electrical tape before installing the wire.

I have small gauge solid ss, monel, and even aluminum seizing wire on hand for things like this.

My guess is that Mercedes' answer is to ignore it and hope that it goes away. I doubt that you will see any recall. I could be wrong.

Added:
A black cable tie could probably be threaded around in a modified figure 8 (a full turn around the tube and then to the hose clamp) to secure the hose clamp. Avoid white nylon cables ties. They tend to get brittle over time.

:cheers: vic
 
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CJPJ

CJPJ

2008 3500 170 EXTD 3.0 V6 OM642.993 4.182
a History; @ 18 months the reservoir end of supply hose was weeping fluid (small): I check the tightness of the clamp and found it not tight; I torqued it and checked the other three were fine.
a pic; shows radiator end OE clamps today at 11yrs old
image.jpg

rollerbearing said:
Interesting.
On the reservoir of my PS it is a crappy plain old worm drive clamp of the type that chews into hose. The van has never been anywhere but the dealers and Linden (who did a fuel filter with quality clamps). The Linden tech graciously let me watch as he changed out the fuel filter in the side lot so I KNOW it didn't come fom them.
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M

Moto Vita

Active member
CJPJ said:
a History; @ 18 months the reservoir end of supply hose was weeping fluid (small): I check the tightness of the clamp and found it not tight; I torqued it and checked the other three were fine.
a pic; shows radiator end OE clamps today at 11yrs old
View attachment 119458
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Interesting that your 08 apparently came with worm drive clamps, my 2016 came with spring clamps. It would certainly be nice if the problem can be solved with a simple clamp change. I plan to try it and see.
 
M

Moto Vita

Active member
Aqua Puttana said:
My guess is that Mercedes' answer is to ignore it and hope that it goes away. I doubt that you will see any recall. I could be wrong.
:cheers: vic
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It's hard to believe that Mercedes would recommend pulling a van off a tow truck then just sticking the hose back on, refill the system, clean up the mess (hopefully), and send it down the road. I'd be interested to hear what repairs have been done by MB dealers.
 
2

220629

Well-known member
Moto Vita said:
It's hard to believe that Mercedes would recommend pulling a van off a tow truck then just sticking the hose back on, refill the system, clean up the mess (hopefully), and send it down the road. I'd be interested to hear what repairs have been done by MB dealers.
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It's good to hear that you have faith. Do some research about the rear A/C water leaks and the eventual class action lawsuit against Mother Mercedes. Not to mention the continuing fiasco with the 2004 T1N's and the T21 recall.

Carry on with the topic.

:cheers: vic
 
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M

Moto Vita

Active member
After my last fiasco at the dealership I was told by the parts guy there that the spring clamp on the PS hose was superceded to a worm drive clamp. I asked him to order me one but for unfathomable reasons he was unable to get me the prescribed clamp. I decided it would be much easier to deal with this without the dealership's help so I ordered some Norma 12-22mm x 9mm worm drive clamps. It's possible to get two of these narrow clamps side by side in place of the spring clamp, I was prepared to do that but decided to try a single clamp first. After 1500 miles the hose hasn't moved, I think it's fixed. I'll keep an eye on it but I'm not worried.
 
asimba2

asimba2

ourkaravan.com
While in for the airbag recall I asked the service center to look at the power steering hose as mine keeps slipping. They assured me its only a problem with 4x4s but every Sprinter I've seen regardless of powertrain seems to have this issue. If your dealer is unaware it's service campaign LI46.00-N-069137 POWER STEERING HOSE UPDATED REPAIR METHOD 2018-12-06. It was performed free of charge and involved moving a bracket closer to the front of the vehicle and installing an additional clamp on the PS line.
 
Bikes!

Bikes!

Member
The hose just popped off my 2018 2wd 2500 sprinter with about 16k miles. Luckily it was about .5 miles from home. Looking through this thread, it appears using maybe Lucas or Prestone power steering fluid should work? Manual says Mobil ATF-D, but I don't see it sold anywhere. Or I could drive across town (not in the van) and go to the dealership. Thoughts?

I plan on securing the hose with a 2nd clamp as shown in the above replies (thank you).

Edit- I just swung by Mercedes and bought some of their power steering fluid ($11/qt). I mentioned what happened to the service tech and seemed well aware of this happening. I topped off the tank at home- took about 1/2 qt. Drove the van around, but it doesn't feel right. The power is back, but it's a little shaky and whiny. I've done this twice now, let it cool off, then checked the power steering fluid levels. Any advice?

IMG_6012.jpg
 
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Bikes!

Bikes!

Member
Ignore my question above. It took about 5 rounds of topping off the tanking, driving the van around the block, and topping off the tank again. Now it all seems to be back to normal. Ended up taking a little less than a quart of fluid.
 
D

Deleted member 50714

Guest
My 2015 OM651 lower PS hose was definitely not postioned during assembly to contact the hard line swage. I relocated the clamp, note scar from previous position, for no other reason then I thought it should be relocated.

I think this would be a perfect application for a clic R clamps.

 
D

Deleted member 50714

Guest
Bobnoxious said:
Studying this, and I believe this is either an engineering or assembly line blunder??? Either way, not acceptable shop practice or conducive to reliability.

Superior flexible hose to hard line attachment could be achieved by positioning the hose further-up the hardline and position clamp on the other side of "the Swage."

Alternatively, I would use Clic R clamps Because of their superior clamping feature. For example, in contrast to worm screw type clamps static clamping force, Clic R clamps exert constant clamping force regardless of hose shrinkage and vibration.

Existing spring clamp probably more than sufficient providing it was located with hose on the other side of the hardline swage.
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As I suspected, assembly line issue.

A word for word cut and paste.

Power Steering Fluid Leaking
* The plant has since trained their assembly line workers to clean the PS 
cooler pipe connection from oil residue before slipping the PS hose onto the 

* Clean the area thoroughly and ensure there is no issue with the hose 

* Ensure the correct clamp is installed, which is a spring style clamp A000 
995 65 05. As an alternative a constant torque clamp may be used. Do not use worm style clamps. 

issues found with the Power Steering Hose connection:
2. Make sure there are no Power Steering Fluid leaks coming from any
issues found with Power Steering Fluid accumulated on the frame rail:
system component.
• If no leaks are found, clean the wet area(s), and ensure there are no leaks
thereafter.
 
M

MarkWheeler

Member
Hey All, just FYI, it happened. Despite me cranking on a 2nd hose clamp very tight, & diligently checking & repositioning the hose whenever it started to slip out of place (frequently), it finally popped off on us while we were on the highway. Could have been way worse, but it was still super sketchy. Thankfully I had extra PS fluid & tools with me for this situation & knew what to do. I am taking the rig into McCoy in Portland for annual service, they finally now say they know about Service Campaign LI46.00-N-069137, & will handle it. We'll see what exactly that means. Photo is what the hose looked like blown off. I did report this to the NHTSA.dot.gov. Cheers.
 

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D

Deleted member 50714

Guest
The previous repair recommended against using the worm type clamp.

Personally, I wouldn't use the worm type.
I recommend Clic R style.

 
M

MarkWheeler

Member
Yeah, the 2nd clamp I had added isn't the worm type, it is the smooth inside type. Interesting to me, you can see in the photo I posted that the blow out blew that clamp to the other side of the swage. That clamp was cranked on super tight. I sure hope MB's solution isn't just to crank on another clamp.
 
D

Deleted member 50714

Guest
MarkWheeler said:
Yeah, the 2nd clamp I had added isn't the worm type, it is the smooth inside type. Interesting to me, you can see in the photo I posted that the blow out blew that clamp to the other side of the swage. That clamp was cranked on super tight. I sure hope MB's solution isn't just to crank on another clamp.
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Maybe double-up of spring type sufficient? There's room.
 
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