'99 4.0L OHV Rack and Pinion Issue
 

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I've posted. I recently pulled out the rack and pinion on my '99 ranger 4.0L OHV 4x4. It was leaking really bad (had to fill power steering reservoir every 1.5 weeks or so). Anyway, when I was screwing in the return line (the short line that goes from the gear to the heat exchanger) to the new remanufactured rack it started to screw in properly but about 2-3 turns in it started to mis-align....tried several time and basically destroyed the threads. NAPA was kind enough to order me a new one and send the other back. Now with the new unit I've studied it pretty carefully and it looks like there is an issue between my hose fitting and the gear female tap. At the bottom there is a ~45 deg flare sealing surface in the rack. But my hose fitting has a flat surface and it looks like the sealing surface is on the inside (just like the pressure side). I have a little valve on the pressure side that accepts this flat face then it looks like a stem goes into the fitting and seals on that internal surface. There is no such valve on the return side. Should there be a valve here? All the info online points to there being a valve on the pressure side but no one says anything about the return side. I don't see this fitting properly seating into the rack side as is. Any help/insight is greatly appreciated. Thank you!