blackhawk J

I have been having some problems with my power steering. It seems that the fluid has turned yellow, looks contaminated and it makes noise.
The power steering pump is only a year old
I just replaced the factory cooler hoping this would fix the problem.
and I flushed the system.
What else is there that I can do?!
This is going to turn into a real issue because the weather is getting better and I like to do some spirited driving on the mountian roads around here...
Thanks in advance.

blackhawk J

Has anyone else had this issue?
How have people gone about bleeding their system?
because the best I can figure out is that their may have been some left in the system.
I checked the fluid level and I havent lost any

TTopJohn

I'd like to know too - I've got similar symptoms (except mine is a milky rusty red, instead of the dark red that Dexron III ATF normaly is), and it looks contaminated - I'm thinking about replacing the factory power steering cooler on the theory that it's the only place that another fluid could come in contact with the power steering ATF.

On the other hand, I do have more than one leaky power steering hose - presumably one leak is in the high pressure hose, becasue I have a whine/moan. Could the leaky hoses cause areation? And would the areation of the fluid make it look discolored? Milky rusty red like mine or yellow like blackhawk J's?

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

1. Suck as much of the fluid out of the resrvoir as you can.

2. Pull the LP line (return line) off the reservoir and have a catch pan ready.

3. Let the line and the remainder in the reservoir drain.

This should get 85% of the fluid out.

4. Re-connect the return line

5. fill the PS reservoir with CHEAP fluid

6. Start the motor and cycle the steering wheel lock to lock 3 or 4 times.

Turn off car

Repeat 1 - 3 ...

At step 5, replace fluid with Redline PS fluid and then go to step 6.

Check the level ... close the hood ... have some fun

TTopJohn

Mitch, I appreciate you weighing in on this one!

Am I correctly interpreting your post that you don't think the discolored fluid is a result of coolant contamination, and a thorough flush would fix this? I guess one sure way to know will be to see what the coolant looks like when I drain it - if it looks fine, then the cooler is not breached and isn't mixing coolant with power steering fluid.

Also - re: Redline - are you running Redline Power Steering Fluid, or Redline High Temp ATF (their ATF that is recommended for Dexron III applications like our power steering systems)?

Thanks!

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

Oh that's right ... you guys have those fluid to fluid heat exchangers ...

hmm ... Coolant system is about 12psi and the PS system spikes close to 1000psi I think ...

I would think you would be losing PS fluid into the coolant and not the other way around unless after the motor is stopped and the PS fluid goes to 0 and the coolant system remains under pressure for a few minutes till it cools.

Then I could see coolant in the PS system.

I would take the PS cooler off and go to a radiator shop and have it tested if it's suspect. Probably the only way you will really know ...

I use Redline PS fluid in my race car.

TTopJohn

Gotcha, good info on which system has more pressure - given that, if we had leaks at the cooler, the coolant ought to have a lot more power steering fluid in it than the power steering fluid has coolant in it - and the coolant would therefore look a lot worse - whereas my coolant looks pretty much like it always has.

I've been away for a while, how much has changed on your T/A as it has become "your race car"? Once I get rid of the leaks in my PS system, I think I will go with some redline high temp ATF in there, since particularly running the stock pump with the stock cooler, any extra resistance to heat over normal run of the mill Dexron III would be a good thing.

TTopJohn

After a little more research (Search server was still down, but I found the Google search function) it looks like these factory power steering coolers have leaked for several people. As a quick fix, I think I will simply bypass mine by removing the power steering lines running to it and connecting them with a fitting + clamps. Then either plug or loop the two fittings on the cooler itself.

I'll do a flush of both the power steering and the cooling systems, and see how things look.

Next step will be to fix my leaky power steering hoses, and then replace the power steering fluid with synthetic ATF, in hopes that its claimed resistance to heat will let me get away without a power steering cooler.