Power steering fluid leak – is this a special hose?

[bronchole]

When I bought this 1997 5.0 Mountaineer Jim (nssj2) told me that the PS reservoir was cracked and dribbled PS fluid. I bought and sent a replacement reservoir to my friend and he replaced it for me in the month that he stored it until I could get to Colorado to pick it up. He is a very competent mechanic, but not really a Ford guy. Anyway, he couldn’t find anything wrong with the reservoir when he removed it but inspected and installed the new one anyway. The leak reduced considerably but didn’t go away. Everything is packed in there so tight that I cannot find the leak by a simple external examination with everything installed. That means that I need to pull it out again and give it a look over. I suspect that I will not find anything obvious. I have inspected the original reservoir and I couldn’t find anything wrong with it either. I suspect that the hose that gravity feeds from the bottom of the reservoir to the pump housing may not be sealing correctly to the reservoir. Weather because there is some sort of damage to the hose or because it is hardened and not pliable enough to form a good seal. I guess it is possible that my friend didn’t tighten the hose clamp, but I would be surprised if that was the case. He is even more **** than me when it comes to working on cars.

Q1: Is this a normal/common place to leak on these? If so what are the fixes?

Q2: Is this some sort of special hose? I briefly attempted to see if the auto parts houses carry a replacement for this hose, but I didn’t see one listed anywhere.

Q3: Should I be using some type of special hose to replace this hose when I remove the housing for another inspection? I know there is a specific composition hose for working with power steering fluid, just wondering if there is an uber *****en version that I should be looking for in the event that I am supposed to just use standard hose instead of a specifically molded/formed hose.

Thanks for your input. It’s going to be great when I get this leak fixed. This will be the first wheeler that I have owned that doesn’t pee on the driveway.