2008 Ford F250 Hydroboost Power Brake Unit Replacement

When I got the truck, I thought someone spilled something on the driver's side floor. I had no idea that it was power steering fluid from the power brake booster.

The entire job isn't too hard. It took around three hours. I'm slow. I was also back and forth helping a neighbor with brakes at the same time.

I figured I'd start with removing the fuel cooler / turbo pipe assembly. A couple hose clamps on top, banjo bolts for the fuel lines, and five mounting bolts later, it comes out as a unit. 

Again, I remembered to not forget that sneaky nut hiding behind the oil dipstick tube. There were a couple more small nuts holding the lower part of the bracket on. But these had worked themselves loose already. 

There, that wasn't too bad. Now to get the power booster out. 

 The hydraulic lines (in the picture below) weren't hardly even tight. 

There was adequate room, but you can remove the return nipple if you need to loosen or remove the line on the booster that it's blocking your wrench from getting at.

 I've un-bolted the master cylinder from the brake booster. There was no need to remove any brake lines.

 Next, I removed the four mounting nuts on the inside. I'm going to have to use laundry detergent and a hand-held carpet cleaner or something to clean the mess up from the power steering fluid.

 I had to take off this plastic clip so I could get to the other clip that holds the brake pedal on the push-rod.

 Here's how the brake light switch was mounted to the push rod and pedal (minus the yellow plastic clip). 

The metal spring clip.

Here's the plastic bushing thing that goes on there. Watch for this so you don't lose it.

And this photo of the brake pedal on the floor is just to give you nightmares. 

 New unit (left), and old unit (right). Notice that they didn't supply the push rod or even a new retainer. How did I get the retaining clip out? A little push here and pull there, with a twist here and turn there, and it finally came out.

And there it is on the new unit. Bonus on the patina finish, or rust, as we called it in Cleveland, giving the new unit that rustic feel.

Speaking of feel, the brakes felt a little better with the new power booster. 

Replacing the Power Steering Pressure Hose on a 2001 Honda Odyssey

Spending the afternoon working on a neighbor's car when I took the day off work because I'm sick is a sure-fire way to get in trouble with the wife.

I got a sore throat on Monday afternoon. It got so bad I didn't sleep nearly enough that night. So I took the day off work to recover. I usually take some essential oils to fix any sore throat before it can get a hold of me. But I was a little late this time. When those essential oils hit the sore spots in the throat, it really stings.

Then my neighbor called to say she dropped off her car for me to replace the power steering hose. I wasn't going to have time until maybe Friday, so I figured I'd replace it then. Besides, I told her on Sunday at church that I'd fix her car on Tuesday. How hard could it be?

Apparently three hours worth. I had to drop the sub-frame that holds the drivetrain down about an inch to get the hose in there.

The passenger side top motor mount needed to be removed to get a little more room. 

 

It looks like that motor mount needs to be replaced. 

I loosened the front mounting bolts, and removed the back ones and let the frame down with a floor jack. It stopped after about an inch. If I needed more room, I'd put the floor jack under it and find other things to un-bolt, like the struts. But that was enough room, barely.

This van needs both sway bar links replaced. I'd say these were well beyond their wear limit.