Sentra Power Steering Pump Fitting Crack/Leak

has anyone here had this problem?

96 sentra developed significant power steering fluid leak at
top of pump apparently where hose from reservoir connects.
i removed hose, inspected (looked good), replaced hose,
replaced o-ring under suction pipe fitting, replaced fluid, still
leaked. found leak at a crack in suction pipe fitting.

ordered new suction pipe fitting from local nissan parts
department, took 3 days to arrive. installed new fitting
using torque values in service manual, NEW FITTING
CRACKED IN SAME PLACE AS OLD FITTING.

now i removed pump from vehicle, had to remove front
motor mount and lower engine to get the pump pivot
bolt out. will take pump and both cracked fittings to
nissan monday. suction pipe is made of cast aluminum
(APPARENTLY A BAD DESIGN).

On 2/23/08 6:52 PM, in article
e9165e3f-84f6-4884-ba6b-aeab604fb46b.RemoveThis@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com, "nucleus"
<rose122550.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:

> has anyone here had this problem?
>
> 96 sentra developed significant power steering fluid leak at
> top of pump apparently where hose from reservoir connects.
> i removed hose, inspected (looked good), replaced hose,
> replaced o-ring under suction pipe fitting, replaced fluid, still
> leaked. found leak at a crack in suction pipe fitting.
>
> ordered new suction pipe fitting from local nissan parts
> department, took 3 days to arrive. installed new fitting
> using torque values in service manual, NEW FITTING
> CRACKED IN SAME PLACE AS OLD FITTING.
>
> now i removed pump from vehicle, had to remove front
> motor mount and lower engine to get the pump pivot
> bolt out. will take pump and both cracked fittings to
> nissan monday. suction pipe is made of cast aluminum
> (APPARENTLY A BAD DESIGN).

It can't be all that bad of a design if its just now failing after 12 years.
Remember, it was only warranted to work for 3 years.