The Banjo Fitting

This..........


is a banjo fitting. A banjo fitting is used for pressurized hydraulic systems. I would bet you $1000 that there is at least one on your car (probably on the brakes). My car actually has more than that. The one I'm particularly interested in is the one on the power steering pump.

I've let my new power steering pump age long enough and it was finally ready to use. Luckily that coincided with a great day off work, so this morning I decided it was time. Of course, it's prudent to have all the parts you need prior to taking everything apart so I did a little checking. See those two little rings in the picture above? Those parts can't be reused (or shouldn't), so I had to see if they were available. The Toyota dealer didn't have any in stock, but could have them by tomorrow if I stopped in a ordered them by 11:00. I wanted them today so I check with Napa. that guy basically said, sure, we have tons of those. With that confidence I tore it open.

Since this was the third time I swapped this pump, I had it out in less than 45 minutes. I'm pretty much an expert at it. The next step was to get my new washers. No problem, quick trip to Napa.

When I got there, of course, I talked to somebody different. I held up the part and said, "I need one of these". I didn't get the response I expected. Basically "ooooo, I don't know". Well he was right. They didn't have one that fit right.

Awesome.

Not only did they not have the part, but now I couldn't get the one from the dealer by tomorrow since it was after 11.

AWESOMER.

At this point I consulted some friends about the danger of reusing the old washers. It turns out this was my best bet. The other option would be to wait for the parts until Tuesday night. Back to work I went.

The new pump went in easy. I figured it should since, as I said, I'm an expert at it now (third time and all). Now it's just a matter of hooking up the hoses. Now we're back to the banjo bolt. Being that this is in an inconvenient location and it's tricky because there are lots of parts involved, I was kind of endangering my expert status. Then, the banjo bolt and washers fell down. I heard them hit the ground. So, I got down under the car to get them. After 20 minutes of searching, I finally accepted the fact that one of them had disappeared.

AWESOMEST.

I looked everywhere. On top of surfaces it could have landed on in the engine, under the car, around the car, under stuff around the car, everywhere. Everywhere.

So. Here are I am. I have ordered the parts I need from the dealer. Since I didn't get the order in early I have to wait until Tuesday for it. That means the Landcruiser is garage bound until Wednesday at the earliest.

Now would be a good time to do some other stuff that it needs.
I love working on cars. I don' t know why. It doesn't make sense, but it can be very therapeutic.