Skye12977

e) Swore I choose the LS1 Gen. 3 portion. My apologizes.
I've owned my 2002 Camaro Z28 for over a year and a half, and I'm what modifications, if any, I should or could do to my car.

Performance wise the car is fairly stock:
SLP Long Tube Header
Borla CatBack Exhaust
Jet 3-stage programmer

At the very least I'm thinking of installing a power-steering cooler, as that could fix my current problem. I thought my power-steering pump was leaking, I even replaced my pump/res because It looked as if it was leaking behind it, but after reading posts on this forum I found out it could actually just be getting too hot and over-flowing. Makes me replacing this pump/res twice rather wasteful..

Can anyone suggest for/against this?
Maybe even suggest which cooler to use.
Any other modifications I could do?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

A 2002 Z28 would have come stock with a PS cooler (fluid-to-fluid style), though they are junk and should be deleted before they cross-contaminate the coolant and PS fluid. Perhaps yours was already deleted by a previous owner if you don't currently see it connected to the radiator hose. The RPO code for this option is "V12" if you want to check your SPID, but it was standard for all V8 models by 2002 so I'm sure yours came with it.

Unless you live in an extremely hot climate, or use the car for types of racing that cause very high PS fluid temps, a cooler really isn't necessary. Here is a huge thread that outlines the issue with the factory cooler, and details the deletion of it, and shows some results from those of us who never bothered to install an aftermarket cooler in its place (I think all of my temp testing was done back in the 2012 time frame, if you are searching through the thread):

https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...g-success.html

Orange Juice

iTrader: (3)

Unless you are tracking your car I doubt that the PS fluid is boiling.

Skye12977

I don't have any stickers for my RPO codes, is there any site that allows a VIN check that tells you the RPO codes for free?

-When I got the car it in January of 2015 the car did have a power-steering leak, I had replaced a power-steering line, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1, and the leak continued.

-I replaced the Power-Steering pump/res and the leaking stopped... for awhile.

-Thinking back now the Power-Steering fluid ate through the aux wire for my alternator, I had purchased an alternator, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1, because I didn't see the bad wire until I had actually gotten it all out.

Not having the time to actually fix the slow leak due to work, I had to let it continue to slowly leak. It wasn't until it entirely took out my alternator that I realized how bad it was.

I then removed the both, cleaned it all up and replaced the pump/res and had the alternator professionally rebuilt, and of course the leak stopped... or so I thought

It's begun to leak again and I'm not entirely sure why. Every time it's replaced the leaking stops for at least a month. Could it be the seal on 3 separate power-steering pumps that just so happen to go bad? Could there be another line leaking? My only other thought could be the rubber hose on the right side of the res:



I could also purchase a temperature gun and check if he fluid is indeed getting too hot, if I were to do this would should the operating temperatures be within before I should consider an external cooler?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

In the above picture, I can see that the factory PS cooler has been deleted and the radiator hose replaced with one that's designed for an earlier model. This is very typical and was likely done by a previous owner due to the cross-contamination issue I mentioned above.

Any GM dealer parts department can run your VIN through the VIS and get a list/printout of the RPOs for said VIN number. I don't currently know of any other free source for this information. Regardless, every '02 Z28 came with the factory cooler stock.

There is a ton of information in the thread I linked above regarding fluid temps and ranges, and whether or not you really "need" a cooler. The vast majority of people don't need one. I deleted mine from my '02 to prevent the cross-contamination issue, and doing so caused me zero issues or leaks. I outlined my temperature testing and findings in the thread linked above, in 2012 or 2013.

The rubber line you have circled above is the return hose.

I don't think adding a cooler is going to solve your issue. When the fluid overheats, it boils from the top and leaks past the cap. If your leaks are originating from lower areas, then fluid temp likely isn't the issue.

Skye12977

The attached pictures is just a stock image.

I beleive the leak is from the top, the return line was a suggestion as that's the only other spot I could think of the fluid could be coming from if it wasn't the cap.

I'll do my best to look again and take pictures if I can.