Power Steering Leak Solved

At least I think it is. Truthfully, I'm desperately hoping it is.

A friend pointed out that you must be careful with some hydraulic fittings not to over torque them. Some require a mere quarter turn after they seat, others as little as 12 lb/ft of torque. Well I cleaned the fitting and the threads in the pump and gave it a go. I put some fluid in it and... it leaked like a sieve.

I noticed at that point that the tubing that passes through the fitting was completely loose. Clearly, it wasn't seated to the pump properly. I began to wonder if the fitting simply wasn't deep enough to press the tube to it's receptacle in pump. I measured the depth and the length of the threads on the fitting and found the threads were .4 of a millimeter longer. Ok, so if I cinched it down all the way, that should produce a tight fit.

I tightened it down, added fluid and waited. 2 hours later, no sign of any leak. I really hope that it behaves the same under pressure.