Good Day, folks. I need your help. I believe my mechanic is excessively overcharging. I own a 94 Jaguar XJS v12, and the power steering line had to be replaced as it was leaking badly. How many hours should it take to replace the line? My mechanic is a Jaguar master mechanic. I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Thank you

 

I expect your paying flat rate for the job, but I don't know what that is. I will say that gaining access to the fittings at the rack end is not easy, unless the whole front suspension crossmember is removed. With it in the car, you'd need to remove the left hand downpipe/catalyst, the heat shields surrounding the downpipe, disconnect the steering shaft from the rack, unbolt the rack to drop it down, then you have some access to the hose fittings. If the studs holding the downpipe in place break, you're talking even more labor. The high-pressure line has a metal center portion that is mounted to the front of the crossmember. The fitting at the power steering pump is also somewhat difficult to get to.

Adding to the issue is that finding a line that fits correctly can be an issue. None of the aftermarket lines I've seen fit as original. Some factory supersessions don't fit right either. The best thing to do if the fittings are in good shape is to have the existing line rebuilt.

In summary, it's not an easy job due to tight access, and getting a proper replacement can take time and effort. If the mechanic runs into issues with the downpipes, this job could take many hours. I've done it with the rack in the car, and it is not a fun or easy job.

 

I just did the high pressure line. You have to partially drop the rack or drop the down pipe to get to the pressure line fitting at the rack, Easily a 3 hour job but I can see it taking 4 hours if you hit a snag. I remember the hose costing about 54$. All that said it should be a $400 to $600 job retail.

 

My 1994, V12 was dripping a lot of PS fluid many years ago and I got an estimate of $300.
Even that price seemed more than I could afford at the time, so I decided to do it myself.
Before then my 'mechanic experience' was minor tuneups and brake pad replacements.
I bought a new high pressure line for it and got to work.
The job took me two days of knuckle busting frustration.
After finishing the job I still had a leak which turned out to be a loose clamp on the low pressure line.
That was my first repair on the car and it taught me lots of important lessons.

 

If I had only been able to get my car in the air and over my head, like a pro mechanic, with a garage and lift - sounds like heaven... One day, maybe... Hmmm
one of the first things I ever did on my ol car was replacement of the steering rack and the HPressure hose that snakes around the front of the subframe then comes back to the rack, then there was a second reason to get in there, then maybe even a third. Still, this is from memory,,,,

If you completely undo the high pressure line at the front of the front subframe,,,,, and undo the HPressure fitting connected to the pump, and position the line so it will slide towards the rear of the car as you partially or fully drop the rack (leaving the tie rod ends connected to hold everything up) this will EASILY give enough slack in the loose HPressure line for downward movement of the rack,,,,, accessing the fittings at the tower and removing the high pressure line (or low) is possible. I would image with right tools and a lift, a piece of cake.

Why is there a need to remove the down pipe? The whole subframe? No way... Yes heat shields on both sides and the steering column to tower connection, but the downpipes? I don't remember it that way at all and I certainly didn't remove the downpipe

A 1 or 2 hour job (max) for a skilled mechanic with a good shop... 600$?! 60$ part? That would be 250$ per hour labor. That's craZy...

This job doesn't have to be so hard.

 

Have you seen the down pipes on a 6.0? They are huge. Bigger than a 5.3. You aren't going to drop the rack very far with them in the way. And the left downpipe makes it extremely difficult to get the steering shaft clamp loose. I was JUST able to do it when I replaced my rack bushings a couple of weeks ago. And I just barely had room to get to them. No way could I have removed the high pressure line.

The biggest problem is if you try to install the line everyone sells, it doesn't fit right. Its almost impossible to install with the rack and front suspension not out of the car. The factory replacement is a supersession part number and didn't fit at all. As I said, the best option is to get the original rebuilt.

 

I had to replace the high pressure hose on my 6.0. I lowered the rack and was able to access the pump. It wasn't easy, but I didn't have to remove the cross member. What took me too long was removing the belts. Found out later that if you remove the adjuster for one of the belts, the belt comes off easily, rather than struggling tryig to get the belt off.

 

Point taken. I have not...