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The seeping through the hoses is the oil eating the rubber. Coolant hoses are not built to carry oil. They make specific hose for trans fluid which is what is in your power steering and it is the type of hose you need to use for the power steering cooler. Get rid of the cooler in the upper radiator hose and run new hoses to a small trans cooler up front in front of the radiator or mount it in the front end somewhere, in the airflow would be best (like in front of the radiator).
All of your coolant hoses are now contaminated with oil and will start swelling and pop. I've been through this before. You'll need to change all hoses.
After you do you'll have to change the antifreeze a few times to get all the oil out. It's a tedious process. Before you pull the old hoses drain the coolant pinch off the power steering cooler lines to the cooler with vice grips or something and drain the coolant. Then run some water and dawn soap in it and let it get hot and circulate. This will get a considerable amount of oil out before you put on the new hoses.
When you have the hoses off stick a water hose in the radiator and let it run for a while to get as much goo out as possible. I would personally pull the water pump off too and flush the engine with the hose and flush the heater core with the hose. Don't want oil getting on the new hoses.
For the new upper radiator hose get the one for a z28 that doesn't have the cooler in it and you'll get a 1 piece hose.
I figured the goo was powersteering fluid, that;s what prompted me to investigate what was going on. My 1999 suburban 454 had an oil cooler burst while on the highway, what a mess that was, flushing it was like pumping mud out of my engine. I flushed it dozens of times, and a few times I would fill it with a mix of purple power degreaser and hose water, and just run it around like that then drain it and do it again. I just did it again recently, but since there is no oil left, I just kept my upper hose on and flushed through the heater bypass since the heater bypasses the thermostat through the water pump. Runs great and stays very cool. Hopefully the trans am isn't as bad, I don't imagine it will be (hope I don't jinx myself). I have a list of parts going on rock auto. Any other suggestions? Maybe water pump gasket since you mentioned removing it? I was just going to pull the thermostat put and flush but I suppose it would do no harm to clean the water pump outside the car. Thank you for your help. Do you have any recommendations for an external PS cooler? I do live in a hot climate so it may be necessary. Rockauto orderlist.
Your radiator fluid doesn't look that bad. When my power steering cooler went out, it turned the Dexcool into jello. It was so bad that my engine was overheating. That's how I realized something was wrong. I took it to a shop, and they flushed the radiator, replaced all the hoses, and swapped the power steering cooler with an external air cooler. The new cooler is mounted right behind the air dam. It probably doesn't get much air flow, but it's better than not having one (like the Z28).
I don't have a thread with step by step instructions for the throttle body bypass mod, but I do have a good photo of it:
Do you happen to know the model of the cooler? How is it working out for you? And yeah I am glad I caught it before it got to that point, what a mess that would be. It seems like a small amount has leaked in but not enough to do anything too bad. I have never had an empty PS reservoir so my leak must be very slow.
I like the cooler mentioned above, or even one of the small trans coolers they sell at oreilly or autozone. I believe they still sell the small hayden for under $20, but again I really like the one above.
For hoses don't forget heater hoses and throttle body hoses, over flow hose from rad to overflow jug, and I can't remember but I think there is another small hose that connects to the radiator.
I honestly have no idea what I used. Last time I did a hayden cooler was over 10 years ago.
And I didn't know the part number then. I went to oreilly and looked at all they had and picked one by size. You just need a tiny one for the power steering. Some manufacturers actually just use a length of metal tubing for a cooler with no fins. It doesn't need anything special. If it says power steering cooler it's surely sufficient unless you're gonna do a lot of road racing or auto x
Do you happen to know the model of the cooler? How is it working out for you? And yeah I am glad I caught it before it got to that point, what a mess that would be. It seems like a small amount has leaked in but not enough to do anything too bad. I have never had an empty PS reservoir so my leak must be very slow.
No, I don't remember the model. It really doesn't matter though. You can get one from most any auto parts store. Just ask for a power steering cooler. There are lots of generic coolers that will work. They are basically one size fits all.
I haven't lost any power steering fluid since the swap. I lost about a quart before I figured out what was going on. I couldn't figure out why I was losing fluid, when there wasn't anything leaking. A guy from work told me about the cooler.
I still get a little sludge on the coolant dipstick. It will probably take a while to get it all out, if I ever get it all out. I did have the heater hoses replaced, and I recommend that you do too.
No, I don't remember the model. It really doesn't matter though. You can get one from most any auto parts store. Just ask for a power steering cooler. There are lots of generic coolers that will work. They are basically one size fits all.
I haven't lost any power steering fluid since the swap. I lost about a quart before I figured out what was going on. I couldn't figure out why I was losing fluid, when there wasn't anything leaking. A guy from work told me about the cooler.
I still get a little sludge on the coolant dipstick. It will probably take a while to get it all out, if I ever get it all out. I did have the heater hoses replaced, and I recommend that you do too.
So did this end up really being power steering fluid leaking into the engine cooling system radiator?
If so, it is very fortunate that you did not end up with engine oil leaking into the engine cooling system radiator from an engine oil cooler inside of the radiator end tank...
Double check, just in case...
Make sure the engine oil level is not raised up high due to engine coolant being down in the engine oil pan.
No, the engine oil looks good. Well, it looked pretty dirty when I changed it a couple weeks ago. It didn't have water in it though. The oil level only goes down. It doesn't go up. I have to add a quart after about 3000 miles. Other LS1 owners said this is normal consumption. Some of those 3000 miles were down the drag strip, so that doesn't help.
Just to clarify, my radiator fluid looks good (Dexcool red/orange). I just get a little sludge on the dipstick. I figure it's probably residual that didn't get flushed out. I haven't checked it lately though. I do keep an eye on the eng temp, and check the radiator fluid occasionally. Everything has been within normal limits since the flush and cooler swap.
So did this end up really being power steering fluid leaking into the engine cooling system radiator?
If so, it is very fortunate that you did not end up with engine oil leaking into the engine cooling system radiator from an engine oil cooler inside of the radiator end tank...
Double check, just in case...
Make sure the engine oil level is not raised up high due to engine coolant being down in the engine oil pan.
These cars don't have oil coolers in the radiator. Just trans coolers. The power steering cooler is in the upper radiator hose and semi common to leak. I've had other makes of cars where the trans cooler leaked in the radiator and mixed water and trans fluid.
So did this end up really being power steering fluid leaking into the engine cooling system radiator?
If so, it is very fortunate that you did not end up with engine oil leaking into the engine cooling system radiator from an engine oil cooler inside of the radiator end tank...
Double check, just in case...
Make sure the engine oil level is not raised up high due to engine coolant being down in the engine oil pan.
I can tell by the pictures that it was power steering fluid in the radiator. Flush, replace hoses, buy new PS cooler. done.
03-06-2019, 09:26 PM
