Is there a way to use a power steering hose assembly with wrong fittings?

Question

Let me first state that I'm in Australia. My 1995 Subaru Impreza has leaky power steering hoses. The story of how I obtained my replacement part goes like this:

• I went to my local dealership to obtain a replacement power steering hose assembly (Subaru don't offer single hoses)
• Dealership tells me that the part is no longer manufactured
• I then search the internet for an alternative part number
• I find a part number and order the part from a dealership in the US

After a two month wait, I finally received my replacement power steering hose assembly. However, there is just one very minor problem with the replacement that is preventing me from using it. I'll use images to illustrate the problem.

Old hose fittings

New hose fittings

On the new hose assembly, the fittings for the steering rack are not correct (the new fittings are female where as the old ones are male). Everything else with both hose assemblies are identical, it's just the fittings in the pictures that are different. Therefore, my question is, can I still use my replacement part?

Answer 1

You can absolutely use the part. You'll just need to get an adapter fitting which will work between the two. In the computer world we used to call it a "gender bender" ... a part which would take and change the gender so as to fit the two parts together. Remember, all the hose does is transfer hydraulic fluid in a pressurized state. The hydraulic fluid doesn't care how it gets there, nor neither should you. All that matters is it gets to where it needs to go without leaks. Any high pressure hose will work. In your case the difficulty is in getting the two to marry correctly.

With that in mind, you'd need to take the two ends you are putting together to a shop which can supply you an adapter. Hopefully it doesn't take you another two months to get what you need. If the shop doesn't have what you need, they should be able to tell you exactly what you do need to make it happen (ie: sizes of fitting, thread pitch, etc).