The return going toward the radiator, is going to the power steering "oil cooler" that's basically a "P" shaped bent piece of tube, that returns to the fluid reservoir. It's also why it looks like there's 2 return lines running side by side, as they both go in front of the radiator.

 

I took a look in front, yep you are right. I also found a chart with the correct part number and line assembly but it was out of stock.
I do wonder why there is a 3rd connection on the reservoir. I thought 1 goes to the power steering pump and from there it takes it to the rack and pinion steering rack. And then the return hose takes it back to the reservoir. So wouldn't there only need to be two connections? I'm just very curious about this. Maybe the third one goes to the steering rack. But the power steering pump already takes fluid to it. Why would there be two of them?

Anyways, I talked to a mechanic about this situation. He said it can't be done by a rubber hose and regular clamps. As it it could pop off if it doesn't have a flare.

He said what he would do to repair it. Is make a pipe and cut off the broken section and use a flare on the other sections and connect the two. I'm going to do a quote to see how much he charges for this. He needs to take a look at it.
Oh and I did ask him well if it is the return hose, does that means it's a not a high pressure line? His reply was well, there still is a lot of pressure running through those lines. I think it would still work with a rubber hose with a flare in it. But I know if it isn't mounted right it could break off in another section. I'm just more willing to let a professional do this. Or I'm not exactly sure, I know there is special power steering line repair kit with different lines and sizes with the proper rated connections and sizes to handle all the pressure I would probably do it.

Oh and also I did ask him about finding the part, he did kind of laugh about this. But actually I think the part is called: "Pipe, Power Steering Combination " Honda Part No: 53779-SM4-904
It has been discontinued. Part 32.

Honda Part No: 53779-SM4-903 doesn't fit my vehicle and it's $60.00. Hmmm. It does fit a
1991 Honda Accord 4 Door SE; KA 4AT



I wonder if you buy a steering rack which is $150 do they come with the power steering lines?

 

I've never known a steering rack to come with those pipes/hoses.

All of them have enough corrosion that I'd be afraid of them cracking & leaking when you try to make a flare joint to a new pipe. Seems like less headache to make up new pipes. But presuming your mechanic has seen it he would choose a good spot to make a connection between new & old piping.

Considering the corrosion on those pipes, you might want to have him look at the condition of the 3 fuel lines and 2 brake lines running under the length of the floorpan...

 

I agree 100% with what Jim said. Those lines under there look pretty crusty. I'd seriously look at e-bay, and see if I couldn't find the lines on there (NOS Honda). That's where I got mine from, as I needed them, and since I had a big enough leak, that replacement was the only way to fix it. I did the return lines first, then had the pressure line (from the pump to the rack) let go. That one I think I got from Rock Auto, or maybe off e-bay, but it wasn't a genuine Honda line. In a way I'm glad the high pressure line started leaking, as it allowed me to get the non-Honda power steering fluid out of the system. I found out after (Thanks Jim) I did the return line that I used the wrong stuff.

I ended up redoing the fuel and brake lines on my own Accord a year later. For me it wasn't a big deal, as I had already replaced them on my wife's 00 Accord, so I had some practice. But still, getting that plastic cover off was a big PIA.

 

I managed to find a high pressure power steering feed hose for $60 on ebay.used and good condition. That is all I could find. He couldn't find them anywhere else either. There is combination set for the 1991 honda accord at hondapartsnow. He said that wouldn't work.
He is going to make a whole new return line (not the complete line) Just where it connects to the power steering rack and were it then connects to the rubber hose.
What power steering fluid do you use? I forget to ask the mechanic about that. I'm sure he has his own in the shop. I have been using Prestone Power steering fluid for Honda/Acura.

Maybe I can make a deal with the mechanic. Maybe if I take out the rest of the lines and he can make the pipes, I can install them. But then again, making the pipe is the labor of this job. So I don't think that would work. I will see how well he does with this first one. He said it would cost an extra $30 if he had to customize the connector.

I don't think it's much of a risk to just leave the rest of the lines alone. Until I can find the parts. Maybe call some salvage yards. Maybe ask on Craigslist.

If it only had a better barrier so it wouldn't rust in the first place. Thank you for the advice, JimBlake, I will have to check on the condition of the brake lines and fuel lines (To be sure I think I'll ask the mechanic to take a quick glance at it). Those power steering lines must never have been replaced. I know this car had good maintenance, but I believe these lines must be the original. I think the power steering rack might have been replaced.

"I ended up redoing the fuel and brake lines on my own Accord a year later. For me it wasn't a big deal, as I had already replaced them on my wife's 00 Accord, so I had some practice. But still, getting that plastic cover off was a big PIA." -The Toecutter

I could imagine, if I had some practice I would do the brake lines myself as long as I can get the parts. Those covers are kind of annoying, they have plastic clips. I used bolts as a replacement on the driver's side of the vehicle. I know from experience from other people, when the rust gets so bad, it's almost time to get rid of the car. So its a great pre maintenance move to replace those brake lines. I think the brakes is the next thing I need to check. I have done transmission fluid, motor oil, and coolant.

Funny thing if I would ever buy another car now, the first thing I'm checking is under the car.

 

Yeah, making (or buying) the entire steel part of the line is what I was talking about. It just seemed sketchy to try joining anything to that rusty tubing.

Every different type of car seems to have it's own favorite places to corrode. If you buy a toyota next I wouldn't have much advice on where to look for problems...

 

It depends on if he's going all the way to the front with a new custom made line, or to just the first rubber hose. On my 99 it's all pretty much out in the open, other than being behind stuff so you can't easily get to it. Also on mine, there's a "U" shaped rubber hose (the 1st from the rack, don't know if that's the hose your mechanic was meaning), then there's a section of steel line running to the front (where mine was actually leaking from) to a NLA rubber hose that has an offset built into it, that connects to the "cooler". I replaced all of them, including the line section from the rack. I broke the line off at the fitting, so I could use a 6 point socket on it to get it out, due to a lack of room to swing a wrench. I even did the "cooler" line piece, then connected to the hose off the rez jug. I used zip ties to hold it in place, where it was originally held, as the plastic clips broke when I removed the old line sections. Yes, I probably could have reused the hoses, but I just went and replaced them to make it easier on myself installing the lines. Most of the steel lines had some rust on them (like yours do), and I went in with the thought that doing them all now would be better than doing them 1 at a time. When I did the pressure line, I broke the line off flush with that fitting too, for the same reason as doing the return line. On it however, I had a switch/sensor that needed to go back on, but otherwise it went fairly easy, since it bolted onto the pump top.
Yes, getting that plastic tray off was a PIA, as the PO had already replaced the fuel lines, but the brake lines were pretty crusty and crunchy, which is why 1 leaked. I replaced both though, along with the tank vent line (runs in that same wad of lines) which I hoped would cure my PO1157 code (tank vent system). It didn't, but that line was rusted thru in a couple of places and not doing much. For the brake lines, I used 3 sections of 60 inch 3/16ths line, one 12 inch piece and 3 couplers for the right line, and 1 60 inch piece and a 40 inch piece with a coupler for the left line. I got them from O'Reilly's locally. Sure, I could have ordered up a roll, and some metric nuts and flared the lines, but that's a lot of work.
The big problem with trying to look under these cars for rust, is that cover hides the lines real well, and you can't see any rust until it leaks. In my case I didn't pay much for the car, so it had hidden rust I wasn't looking for (even in the salt belt).

 

Yeah, because it would break off later perhaps. The whole rusty part of that line has to be replaced. I didn't realize it could be done the way he did it although, with the flare end nut attaching to the custom pipe. I wonder what tools he used.
Doing what he did could save someone a lot of money if they knew how to do it their selves. It's even cheaper than buying the lines themselves. The materials are inexpensive.
Any place were water can get trapped under seems were it can corrode worse. That bracket does not prevent enough. And I suppose that is why the have a hole in it, they don't want water to stay in it.
The only place that wasn't rusty was the inner tie rods (I had no problem getting them off). Oh boy but the outer tied rods, the adjustment or lock nut was real tough. Before I had my crow foot flare set. I used a crow foot regular wrench. Nothing I tried work, I didn't have enough room.. What I did was wedge a jack under the wrench, with someone helping me of course. And making sure the wrench was seated properly. Than I used the jack that was holding the car up and lowered it. And then I used the other jack to keep pressure on it as I raised. Yeah that finally snapped off. Later I learned that I should have probably secure another wrench on the rack and pinion to resist torque to prevent damage.

So when I finally did the other side I had my crow foot flare set, and I used an extension so I had more leverage and clearance. I don't know what happened but I went FLYING forward, it must have been 3 to 4 feet. It felt like I did a barrel roll. At least I didn't have to use heat.




Yeah, it was just to the first rubber hose. Not the whole line, because I looked at the whole return line, it doesn't seem that bad.


I was going to say as long as you didn't strip the actual fastener that the flare nut goes in it and could reuse the flare end to attach to a new pipe (But you had the parts anyways). So yours was an actual rubber hose that attached to the rack and not a pipe? Mine are pipe hoses starting from the rack. And it appears to be 4 connections. The line he replaced was just a short pipe that led to another rubber hose. I would like to really understand how this steering rack works. And why it needs 4 hose/line connections. I'm guessing it it has two return hoses. One that returns to the reservoir and then a 2nd hose to return to the reservoir. And then the power steering pump that feeds the line. The way you did yours is a lot better than what I'm doing. I'm fixing as I go. But yours seem to be bad in multiple spots.
I found a good chart on the 2002 honda accord how the lines and hoses connect to the power steering rack. But can't find a good one for 1993 honda accord. Oh well, if later I need to replace the lines I guess I'll just have to follow them one by one.


How much did all these parts cost you by the way? The rubber hoses I know are cheap. But I wonder what power steering line set you got.

Well, I'm glad you could DIY work and save money and have it not turn into a money pit. That is what I'm trying to accomplish as well. I just want it to be safe.

It's interesting I watch these mechanic youtube channels (two of them) I recall. And they tell you what to check for before you buy a car. And they never mentioned checking for rust under the car. It's true they have covers under the car. My front cover is basically just almost gone and ripped apart to shreds now. It was probably what was making that noise on the left hand turn (It got in my way and I couldn't get alternator belt off). But really I think that noise is just the inner tie rod boots before repair. Which led me to believe it was a CV joint but it really wasn't. I guess a mechanic has only so much time to check the most important parts on the car first. Anyways, I got some pictures to show the repair was done. *I also discovered a backed out rusted line connection to the rack. You can see the threads that it wasn't torqued all the way in. But it is good enough because it rusted shut. So no big deal, I think. I can't show the image because it wouldn't focus it was blurry, it's very hard to notice.

But you want to know something interesting I discovered today? Remember previously I was talking about they had pipe power steering combination set?
Honda Part No.: 53779-SM4-904 - this was sold out, it's apparently the correct one for my power steering rack, right?
Honda Part No.: 53779-SM4-903 This one is apparently for a honda accord lx 1991 automatic transmission

Now I wondered about that, what is the difference here? Because I went on rock auto and I found this part under the 1993 honda accord ACDELCO 36R0488 <---- Now this is a re manufactured part apparently from the original. I looked under 1991 honda accord, they had the same part number. It's the same part. So if this part is interchangeable with the 1991 honda accord and 1993 honda accord. And they don't give you lines with these parts, and you are only suppose to use the ones that you have with you car.
Why is the "Honda Part No.: 53779-SM4-903 " part only compatible with the 1991 honda accord LX automatic transmission? They would have to use the same lines. I'm thinking that the 903 works with my honda accord. Otherwise that part would not be compatible with the 1993 honda accord steering rack. Unless the only difference is the lines and spacing are different, and they made a replacement set for the 903 and 904 specifically for the spacing and how they hook up. I'm half tempted to buy it and see if it would work.
I think it might be placement, not sure.



After the job was finished I was curious if you guys have any advice about the new hose line being on the sway bar? Is this okay, I don't think the vibrations would cause it to break off? I could however mount something on the sway bar and have some rubber shielding it?
I uploaded some pictures of the brake lines and fuel lines. I didn't check every area. But the fuel hoses look good on the fuel rail, there is 5 each of them. The two that go off on their own when they get to the front, one is a little rusty surprisingly not on the bottom but going up a little. The brake lines don't look rusty at all.

So I think I'm in good shape here. I know it's going off topic about the brake lines and fuel lines, but since those are more important. I might make my own thread for that later if I need help replacing that is.
I will check tomorrow again to make sure it doesn't leak. But I don't think it's leaking at all. So yeah the mechanic did a great job. Thanks for all the great information you guys have to offer as well. I'm learning a lot.

I guess all that is left is the alignment. Then I hopefully can take this thing on the highway and see how it runs.Vroooom, I hope nothing falls off or breaks while driving lol... I want to check to see if I'm getting correct gas mileage. But it's looking a lot better under the car that is for sure. The weird thing when I was driving home was it was already aligned better when he pumped the tires full of air. The wheel was turned 45 degrees to the right to get it straight, now it's a lot better.

Also I got a door sensor triggered on the passenger side. And then when I got home, I noticed the back passenger door seat light tried to stay on (And I had to reshut it). Hmm, I kind of a got feeling someone was looking around in the car.







Fuel Hoses look good.

Brakes

 

If you're really worried about that line resting on the sway bar, you could always buy a section of 3/8th fuel hose, and split it and slip it over the line to create an insulator for it. As for the lines for your car, the 004 line might have been the revised line, while the 003 line is an obsolete line, that might still be available. I wonder if you checked for a 92 if it would use the same line?
In my case, I didn't have the room to get any swing out of the wrench to break the fitting loose. Since I had a new line section, I just snapped it off at the fitting, put a socket with a swivel on it along with a 3 inch extension and ratchet, and broke it loose and removed it. Getting it tightened up wasn't a problem.
I wish my lines were exposed like yours are. Mine gets a plastic cage like thing that runs the full length of the floor pan (in 2 pieces). It hides the lines so well you can't even see them except at the ends.
I think I had 125 (if that) in parts to do mine (the return line) and 60 bucks for the pressure line. All but the pressure line were Honda parts in a Honda bag, and the "offset" hose came from the dealer, as it was NLA.
I'm glad you got yours fixed though.

 

Yeah, in that situation could you have used a extension with crowfoot flare wrench hooked to a ratchet as well? Then again it would be hard to seat it on there correctly.
Yeah, in my situation it's a easy patch repair job for a mechanic. I got 3 more lines to go. Thanks for that idea about using a fuel hose around the pipe. I might do that. Our prices are nearly identical than for replacing the lines. Mine is just the labor then and the $60 high pressure feed hose.

By the way the part I was talking about, you were right it's a replacement for 003. And 004 is the new version. Hondaautopartswarehouse says it replaces that. Which is compatible with my car, hondapartsnow website probably has the compatibility thing messed up. The part I was looking at was the wrong part anyways. It was this:

• SKU: 53779-SM4-904
• Replaces: 53779-SM4-900, 53779-SM4-901, 53779-SM4-902, 53779-SM4-903

That wrong part I was looking at is directly under the hood of the car and connects to the radiator cooler line. (referenced at 49 on this chart) On this chart they expand to show the actual parts connected to the steering rack. Number 8 was what I replaced. But 13 and 16, I may want to take a look at to see where they go. And the last one is the feeder line.

Thanks, yeah I'm happy I don't have to see anymore oil leaks for a while. Except one more to go, either rear main seal, or cam shaft or crank shaft. But that is very very minor.
It was a huge combo of rust, motor oil and power steering fluid oil under the oil pan. LOL, so gross.