Power Steering cooler

After a few autocross events (ok like 12-14) my power steering pump is whining. Looking at the fluid its a tad bit burnt, so I would like to add a cooler into the setup without breaking the bank. What have you all done?

Would something like this work plummed into the system?
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=SUM%2DG4960

Would it hold the pressure? too much volume for the system? Im not really familiar with the whole setup, and if someone had a pic or two (or a writeup you would be my new hero) that would be awesome.

From what I have seen from many different people, any cooler will help including the GM one ($$$) to the one in the Summit catalog. Keep in mind that only the GM-stock one is legal to run in stock class.

You can change over to Red Line PS fluid and this will help some. Just get a turkey baster and suck the fluid out of the reservior and replenish with the new fluid. If you do this after every 50 miles or so of driving, it will be an easy way to change over the fluid over time. This "mod" was good enough for autocross, but not good enough for open tracking. After track sessions, my Red Line fluid would be smoking and burnt.

I did this until I burnt the pump seal and had to replace. I probably would have been OK with just autocross events.

However, I took a different approach - I bought a modified power steering pump from Turn One Systems. This pump flows just over half the stock pump. With the Red Line PS fluid and the new pump, I no longer have any real problems with autocross or open tracking.

Keith, could you post your info on Turn One Systems? Sounds interesting.

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=311859

and

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=359064

They don't make them for LT1 cars, but when I tried to call earlier this year to see if they could make something up for us I never got through.

The OEM cooler works very well. Coming off of a road course, the PS fluid was always coolant temp (~200º) on both my car and a friends WS6 with the stock cooler. 2 friends that had RV coolers were typically 30º+ hotter. In all fiarness their coolers were behind the airdam. I have bought two factory coolers used with the lines, and paid $60 & $65 shipped for them.

I have seen the OEM cooled LS1 cars blow up their ps pumps with fast drivers on road courses. The first one I saw was a brand new 1998 LS1 Hugger Orange Camaro at the outside Las Vegas road course.

IMHO any upgrade here is worth looking into. Of course placement of the cooler is critical. I am using a two pass Permacool on my LT1 car, a four pass Permacool on my 3rd gen road race car. Both under $40 and well worth the investment. A new ps pump is over $300 at the dealer.

Thanks for all your help so far. I am going to flush the system this week ala turkey baster method as a start. I have another even this weekend... hoping not to make it any worse.

I would like to run a setup which would have a volume greater than the stock one... after all if there is more volume, there is less heat dissipated into the fluid per mL.
Another reason I want to run an aftermarket cooler is I have seen a buddies car autocross (a 2001 with less miles and less track events) with the PS cooler already toast the pump, and burn the fluid. Somehow I was able to avoid the problem unitl now.

Try at least using the Valvoline synthetic p/s fluid you can get at AutoZone, Murrays, Advance, etc. It's pretty cheap and is still an improvement over the stock stuff. That's something you can do as an intermediate fix.

For the LS1 though, the real fix is changing your pump to the Turn One unit.

I bought a Setrab Oil cooler for around $50 (I think) and plumbed it into the low pressure side of the system using power steering hose. It's a small cooler approximately 6 inches by 3 inches. I used to puke out a fair amount of power steering fluid out of the reservoir even on cool track days. Now I loose only a little even on hot days, so it looks like it's working.

Jim

Originally posted by 94bird
Try at least using the Valvoline synthetic p/s fluid you can get at AutoZone, Murrays, Advance, etc.

Awesome... picked some up yesterday :D

Anyone have the part # for the OEM piece? Thanks!

I am using a LS1 cooler, got it from a junk yard, with everything for 25 bucks. It can't get any simpler or cheaper than that. I have not had one problem since the install :bow:

Call your local Chevy dealer for the part number...

If you are going to replace the pump, also replace the high-pressure PS line while you are in there. You can get one at NAPA with a lifetime warranty that is much less expensive than the GM version... And it fits just fine.

Originally posted by Xscream
I am using a LS1 cooler, got it from a junk yard, with everything for 25 bucks. It can't get any simpler or cheaper than that. I have not had one problem since the install :bow:

Did you put it in the upper or lower hose on your LT1? thanks.

I was getting whine whenever I used race rubber at the autocross. I added some power steering fluid additive from NAPA and it never happened again. I think it was made by Amsoil or Redline.

Just looked at the '02 catalog and it lists the PS Cooler as std. Where is it?

SD

Originally posted by 94bird

They don't make them for LT1 cars, but when I tried to call earlier this year to see if they could make something up for us I never got through.

Looking at a pump off of an LT1 car and an LS1 car (not side by side, from memory), it appears the pump is identical. Each mounts to a different bracket and obviously, the reservoir attaches differently, but the pump itself appears to be the same.

I would imagine some creative plumbing would make it work just fine.

The LS1 pump may very well work, but it might be a winter project if I have time. I think I've made the decision my season's over, so let the teardown begin. Since Garrett's started crawling and is close to walking now my car prep time has lessened a LOT. The car will still be there every day, but right now I have more fun with Garrett. Maybe when he gets a little older he can have a little creeper and he can help me out.

Mike, kiddos take precedent over almost everything. The time you spend NOW will pay big dividends later.

I had kids in my EARLY 20s and basically put everything on hold till I was close to 40.

It sounds like a sacrifice, and I guess it is in a way. But I wouldn't trade a second of it ...

If you want a trashed LS1 pump to use as a mock up, I have one.

I should tell you I had a perma-cool tranny cooler like the one pictured (it has spiraled metal inside of the cooler tubes.) I eventually developed metal in the PS reservoir which ceased after I bypassed the cooler. I just won an ebay auction for the factory LS1 ps cooler for $32.

I run a small Perma-Cool on the air dam, using the existing bolts. It works well. The part # is on my website.

I also just added an underdrive crank pulley, which will help a lot too.