Exhaust flexi joint condition help please

AliceBanned

Hi all


I have just received two advisories on an MOT (Hyundai Coupe 06 plate) and wanted some advice before going to get a quote please. The advisories are:


1. 'Power steering pipe/hose has slight seepage offside front'. I think I have found this - the section of the pipe that is down below the radiator I can see a damp patch on the pipe and below it. True it is a slight seepage as power steering container is full. I don't think this is urgent but maybe will just check with the mechanic that this is the bit and get a quote?


2. 'Front (exhaust downpipe flexi joint condition)'. I don't know how bad this is but it wasn't an MOT fail so presume ideally I should get a new one?


I'm going to pop buy a garage tomorrow that a neighbour recommended. I've learnt my lessons from getting fleeced before so like to know enough before speaking to them and also want to get essential repairs done if recommended rather than trying to cut corners.


I doubt I could do either of these jobs myself but I am going to attempt the next oil change myself. Brake discs and pads recently replaced new battery and cam belt since I bought it two years ago with little service history but seems a good runner. Apart from ongoing checks I hope it is ok for another year but at the moment don't have a garage I trust to just hand it over to them and ask what needs doing! Thanks for any feedback - also any advice on reasonable costs for the above (if possible without actually seeing the parts in question).

EdGasketTheSecond

Flexi section can be left until it blows. Then just cut out and replace with a clamp on general purpose stainless steel flexi piece of the right diameter from eBay; this sort of thing:


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Exhaust-Flexi-Pipe-clamp-on-300mm-x-60-mm-Exhaust-Flexi-Repair-Section/252502403385?hash=item3aca50e939:g:C20AAOSwdzVXsyQW:rk:11:pf:0


The power steering pipe is low pressure and you can cut out the corroded section and replace with microbore copper pipe of the same diameter clamped on with rubber hose.


I've done both the above on a Hyundai Lantra which is very similar to the coupe.

AliceBanned

Wow thanks EdGasket. Easier than I thought then and no point taking it to a mechanic tomorrow.

EdGasketTheSecond

Make sure you use fuel-resistant hose on the power steering pipe i.e. regular fuel hose. You can buy lengths of this from motor factors; just make sure the internal bore fits your pipe.

sevenhills

AliceBanned wrote: »

Wow thanks EdGasket. Easier than I thought then and no point taking it to a mechanic tomorrow.

If it is not blowing, it could last for years, the mechanic does not have xray-eyes, they are just telling you about future issues that may generate work for themselves.

AliceBanned

Thanks. I took it to the nearest Council depot for MOT, where they don't actually do any work. But they will obviously still have to tell me of advisories. If I had taken it to a standard garage they may well have told me I would need to get the work done..good tip from MSE and I've been going there for years.


The only downside is it is 10 miles from where I live so if the car ever fails on a 'dangerous' category I can't drive it away to get it fixed. And I would have to find another way home! It is in Luton though and there are loads of reasonably priced mechanics around, just a street or two away. On this occasion it failed on the handbrake and the MOT guy advised the rear brakes needed replacing so I found somewhere easily who did it there and then, and booked in a re-test two hours later!:). Whole MOT, including new rear brake pads and discs, cost me £274 but the bill would have been much higher if I had had all the 'faults' rectified.

AliceBanned

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Make sure you use fuel-resistant hose on the power steering pipe i.e. regular fuel hose. You can buy lengths of this from motor factors; just make sure the internal bore fits your pipe.

Thanks Ed. And as long as I keep an eye on it this is probably not urgent I am guessing. I've never done this type of work before but am gradually getting tools and knowledge so that I can do a lot so it is another thing for me to learn.:)

AliceBanned

Mr Clutch online quote yesterday to replace and fit flexi joint £154. I should say estimate as they haven't seen the car. Obviously I'm not going now.

AliceBanned

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Flexi section can be left until it blows. Then just cut out and replace with a clamp on general purpose stainless steel flexi piece of the right diameter from eBay; this sort of thing:

AliceBanned

Just a quick update on this as I got a friend to look at the power steering.


The fluid reservoir is still nearly full but I hadn't found the correct leak. It is a bigger hose and it is completely wet..it comes out fairly horizontally from the reservoir.


I think I will keep an eye on it but may need to take it to a garage. Any tips please let me know.

AdrianC

The leak is behind the radiator? Then it's almost certainly got a power steering fluid cooler, which is what's leaking - because it's rotten... You're just seeing where the fluid's running to.

In the UK, you really don't need one - so you can eliminate it by simply rejigging the pipework. At the simplest, a U between the hoses in and out of the cooler. A neater solution would be to re-route the pipework (probably the low-pressure return from the rack to the reservoir).