Power steering hoses on Lincoln Continent

[Ranger850]

Is there a way to change the hoses without removing the a/c components.
98 Lincoln Continental 4.6.
The radiator support/croSS member has been pushed back and has sliced the PS hose that goes across the front of the car.
Left- PS hose
Right-Radiator Support

 

[Ranger850]

adsm08... I thought you might have some of that Ford Knowledge to throw around. No?

 

[adsm08]

Sorry man. I have very little experience on that car. It is a transverse mounted V8, and has no real equivalent in the Ford lineup. The hose routing is very different from the longitudinal V8s.

 

[Ranger850]

Damn. well thanx anyways. There is a lot of moving parts on this engine and open space in that engine bay is non-existent.

 

[Ranger850]

Pretty sure this car has left the ground a few times, the radiator support is pushed back a few inches and will have to be repaired before hose replacement.

 

[adsm08]

It is probably best to pull it all apart, fix the body damage, and do the hoses while it is all apart.

I would guess that at the least you would need to pull the radiator.

 

[Ranger850]

That is the plan.... Now that a have seen the damage to the undercarriage. Already put springs where the bags used to be. Fix this hose problem then its time for some interior work. My dad got the car from my nephew and he pretty much destroyed everything he touched. Driver side door panel - shredded. Driver's seat - swiss cheese. the rest of the car looks like a 20 year old Lincoln but not too bad, gray leather with a few cracks here & there

 

[Ranger850]

So I'm tackling this project this weekend. AC compressor and hoses have to come off. My dad thinks it has the older type of refrigerant in it. It has to be discharged before I disconnect it and I will lose that fluid. Since you cant really get the old stuff anymore, what all do I have to do to upgrade to the R-134. It's been a LONG time since I've delt with the old stuff and never changed one over from old to new.

 

[adsm08]

It shouldn't have R12 in it. R12 use stopped for new production vehicles by midway through the 1994 calendar year. A 98 is very firmly in R-134A territory.

 

[Ranger850]

OK, so I got all the PS stuff replaced and it is back on the road, but now it has a High Idle, 1500-2000 rpm. I don't even need to give it gas to be the fastest one to leave a red light. Does anybody know anything about the vacuum setup on these things. Talk a bout A "Rube Goldberg" machine. this thing is ridiculous. So the symptoms are: cranks fine, runs fine, but after a minute or so the RPM's climb and stay there, and stay there, and stay there. It seems to go away after driving for a while, but then it comes back. Sometimes, it's all I can do to stand on the brake pedal at a red light to keep it from creeping into the intersection. OP says '98, but it's a '97

 

[adsm08]

Is that the one with the stupid IMCR setup?

 

[Ranger850]

Is that the one with the stupid IMCR setup?

@adsm08 IDK???
Probably, this is the most cramped, complicated engine bay in all of automotive history. Also a lot of things are missing. The rear bags have been replaced with springs and the air pump for them, that was in the PS fender has been removed and the plug is just hanging with nothing plugged into it. I was wondering if that had anything to do with it, but that's suspension, and not engine vacuum, right?