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Power Steering Cooling Success
05-10-2011, 10:29 PM
#61
On The Tree
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Surprise, AZ
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Thanks again for the "how to", they need to sticky that info to help out people who have issue or preventative measures for the future.
I haven't put a thermo to it, but to touch it; it isn't hot at all and barely warm. That's driving in AZ heat with black tar pavement, although to be honest I only drive 11 miles one way to work and back.
I haven't put a thermo to it, but to touch it; it isn't hot at all and barely warm. That's driving in AZ heat with black tar pavement, although to be honest I only drive 11 miles one way to work and back.
05-11-2011, 12:35 AM
#62
Thanks again for the "how to", they need to sticky that info to help out people who have issue or preventative measures for the future.
I haven't put a thermo to it, but to touch it; it isn't hot at all and barely warm. That's driving in AZ heat with black tar pavement, although to be honest I only drive 11 miles one way to work and back.
I haven't put a thermo to it, but to touch it; it isn't hot at all and barely warm. That's driving in AZ heat with black tar pavement, although to be honest I only drive 11 miles one way to work and back.
.
05-29-2011, 12:13 AM
#63
I finally got around to installing the cooler. I left the stock p/s cooler piece, but pluged the two openings. I purchased a perma cool 1003 which mounts to a frame rail. I mounted it behind the airdam. I am glad I never experienced the failure of the stock cooler. (coolant and power steering fluid)
I also used the same part for an additional tranmission cooler. I mounted it in front of the airdam, slightly above the top edge of the airdam.
I also used the same part for an additional tranmission cooler. I mounted it in front of the airdam, slightly above the top edge of the airdam.
Last edited by guy7bmwm83; 05-29-2011 at 12:30 AM.
06-01-2011, 01:48 AM
#64
I'm going to give my Autozone (or Advanced, can't remember) a little bit longer, but man, that Perma Cool unit does look NICE!! I'll be upgrading soon.
I seriously agree with whoever voted sticky. This trick saved my PS pump, and possibly my motor. It was just a matter of time before the cross migration would have wound up in the coolant. I already had a minimal amount in my PS reservoir.
Thanks to all.
I seriously agree with whoever voted sticky. This trick saved my PS pump, and possibly my motor. It was just a matter of time before the cross migration would have wound up in the coolant. I already had a minimal amount in my PS reservoir.
Thanks to all.
06-07-2011, 11:09 AM
#65
11 Second Club
I completed this mod last weekend.
My power steering fluid had been mixing with coolant for who knows how long. The fluid I originally removed was a reddish-brown color, was very watery (not nearly as viscous as fresh PSF) and had a burned smell to it. My PS cooler must have been dead for a long time. It took an entire gallon of fresh fluid and flushing the system seven times before the fluid was clear again - and it still wasn't perfectly clear when I quit flushing, but I was almost out of fluid at that point. I'll flush it again in the next few months just for good measure.
It seems the pump survived the prolonged exposure to the contaminated fluid. So... bonus.
After an hour of flushing, in went the new cooler, a Hayden 402 obtained from Amazon.com for $28 to my door. It only took ten minutes to install the cooler.
The zip ties use existing body holes to mount the cooler, and I only used two of the four ties provided. I used some heavy-duty rubber washers slipped between the cooler and the car body. This created about 1/2" gap between the car's frame and the cooler itself (to isolate noise/vibration transmitted from the pump, and to allow cool air to both sides of the cooler). Then I bent the rack-to-cooler line slightly to create a little better angle to re-route the existing line to where I mounted the cooler. I only had to extend the cooler-to-reservoir line of the stock power steering cooler lines about 10-12". I secured the lines to each other using some more zip ties, then secured the lines away from the FEAD belt to prevent any interference.
After rolling the car outside, I swapped in the one-piece upper radiator hose (you can see it in the picture below with the blue sticker on it).
I took the car to a deserted parking lot and flogged it for 30-45 seconds at a time, then practiced a few parallel parks to force the pump to make max pressure with almost no forward speed. That really heats the fluid up. Every few minutes I'd pull over and slide under the front bumper to put my hand on the cooler. After about 15 minutes of playing around, the new cooler was warm to the touch, but never got anything close to hot.
After a 100-mile road trip to my mom's house, the cooler wasn't even warm to the touch when I arrived. IMO that tosses the idea that any air might stagnate behind the air dam while moving, so I'm not going to cut any cooling holes in the front air dam. It's not necessary.
Oh, just for S&G's, I called my local dealer. $156+tax for a factory PSC!?! Insane! The GM engineer who designed the stock PS cooler should be taken into a back alley and flogged with a rubber hose.
It turned out so nice it almost looks factory.
Awesome mod.
-R
My power steering fluid had been mixing with coolant for who knows how long. The fluid I originally removed was a reddish-brown color, was very watery (not nearly as viscous as fresh PSF) and had a burned smell to it. My PS cooler must have been dead for a long time. It took an entire gallon of fresh fluid and flushing the system seven times before the fluid was clear again - and it still wasn't perfectly clear when I quit flushing, but I was almost out of fluid at that point. I'll flush it again in the next few months just for good measure.
It seems the pump survived the prolonged exposure to the contaminated fluid. So... bonus.
After an hour of flushing, in went the new cooler, a Hayden 402 obtained from Amazon.com for $28 to my door. It only took ten minutes to install the cooler.
The zip ties use existing body holes to mount the cooler, and I only used two of the four ties provided. I used some heavy-duty rubber washers slipped between the cooler and the car body. This created about 1/2" gap between the car's frame and the cooler itself (to isolate noise/vibration transmitted from the pump, and to allow cool air to both sides of the cooler). Then I bent the rack-to-cooler line slightly to create a little better angle to re-route the existing line to where I mounted the cooler. I only had to extend the cooler-to-reservoir line of the stock power steering cooler lines about 10-12". I secured the lines to each other using some more zip ties, then secured the lines away from the FEAD belt to prevent any interference.
After rolling the car outside, I swapped in the one-piece upper radiator hose (you can see it in the picture below with the blue sticker on it).
I took the car to a deserted parking lot and flogged it for 30-45 seconds at a time, then practiced a few parallel parks to force the pump to make max pressure with almost no forward speed. That really heats the fluid up. Every few minutes I'd pull over and slide under the front bumper to put my hand on the cooler. After about 15 minutes of playing around, the new cooler was warm to the touch, but never got anything close to hot.
After a 100-mile road trip to my mom's house, the cooler wasn't even warm to the touch when I arrived. IMO that tosses the idea that any air might stagnate behind the air dam while moving, so I'm not going to cut any cooling holes in the front air dam. It's not necessary.
Oh, just for S&G's, I called my local dealer. $156+tax for a factory PSC!?! Insane! The GM engineer who designed the stock PS cooler should be taken into a back alley and flogged with a rubber hose.
It turned out so nice it almost looks factory.
Awesome mod.
-R
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lenarish (11-15-2021)
06-14-2011, 08:00 PM
#66
TECH Senior Member
The air does not stagnate behind the air dam...
air coming past under the air dam sucks the air from behind the air dam so there is air flow from above down past the cooler and no slot/cut is required.
air coming past under the air dam sucks the air from behind the air dam so there is air flow from above down past the cooler and no slot/cut is required.
06-15-2011, 02:54 PM
#72
The Derale coolers weren't available to me for my original project, so it looks like companies are substituting them for the Perma-Cool products they used to have in stock.
06-16-2011, 01:50 AM
#74
I just looked at the Derale's. Problem with those is mounting. They are solid metal on the sides. The only way to get them to flow through the fins would be to mount them in the front of the radiator.
Well, I guess you could always fab a bracket though.
Well, I guess you could always fab a bracket though.
06-16-2011, 03:58 AM
#75
06-17-2011, 10:11 AM
#77
TECH Senior Member
the sides are plastic, I took mine off, they come off easy (just be careful to not bend fins);
first impressions: looks to be well made, but it is very light weight, it is very compact; black anodized aluminum (black = improved thermal radiator); has mounting standoff flange at each end; comes with mounting bolts/nuts, clamps, a few feet of hose.