Power Steering problem...

A buddy and I went on a canyon carving run twice this weekend @ 60 miles a clip. I mean really DRIVING this car! Not irresponsibly, just faster than normal on WINDY roads. It was a lot of fun.

After the first half of the cruise today we stopped to park. My PS pump was wining like h3ll and it didn't really have a lot of POWER to the steering. It was really tight. I let it cool down for a bit and it was fine. TYhe fluid level is fine but DARK. It looked like old engine oil.

I figured it was just overheated. Ideas?

I'm uploading a vid of the cruise now..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uGQGHdY22s

try changing the fluid first, then if that doesnt work, change the pump, that would be my educated guess

Change your fluid and install a cooler.

^ AH! THat brings to mind one of the questions I had.. I notice in SS's/TA's they have a metal tube inline w/ the lower radiator hose (Lower I think, drivers side)... I traced it back on a friend's car to the PS system.. -Is that a PS cooler?? If so, where can I get one? Besides the Junk yard..

Yes it is a PS cooler. Get them from ebay or GM, but GM likes them a lot $$$$.
Mine started leaking fluid into the coolant so I got a heat sink type cooler and put it on the area where my AIR pump was.

yeah, it overheated

get a aftermarket trans cooler, and plumb it into the return hose, mount it in front of the radiator

:lol:... Yeah I kinda figured it over heated... Go Canyon carving for two days at 60 + miles a day running HARD and this is the only thing that went wrong.. Man, I must have been beating on it for it to overheat.. :lol:

Yeah.. I'll have to flush the system w/ new fluid and install an aftermarket trans cooler.

Thax yall...

BTW... Maybe a stupid Q, but do they make Synthetic PS fluid?? :think:

I'm uploading a vid of the cruise now..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uGQGHdY22sWhere was that road?

I think it was one of the roads going from Cloudcroft tword the sunspot... Rt 6563 I believe. Sunspot HW
http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=522548

Talk about WINDY roads!!! :cool: I still can't believe I overheated my PS fluid! I must have been beating that car more than I thought! :lol: THat was a crazy drive tho! I gotta install a PS cooler if I plan on doing more Canyon Carving. I just ordered a 35mm hollow FT sway from Strano.. :cool: Can't WAIT to bolt that baby up!! THis body roll is getting ANNOYING!!

BTW... Maybe a stupid Q, but do they make Synthetic PS fluid?? :think:

Yes, I use Valvoline.

^Cool! :cool: thanx for the help y'all! :cz28:

If you like driving fast on open roads, try this: http://www.sscc.us/
http://www.openroadracing.com/
http://sorcrace.net/
http://www.bborr.com/

The PS pump is the greatest weakness on these cars when it comes to corner carving (well, ok... the hubs are weak, too). Ask any autocrosser. The pullies are setup so that it's easy to turn at low rpms, but at race speeds (ie. high rpm), the pump gets spun too fast and it cooks itself to death. A cooler will help, but it only delays the inevitable death from high rpm. For now, flush the system and use synthetic PS fluid (redline or whatnot). Be careful though, if the fluid gets too hot, it can destroy seals in the rack and then you'll have a bigger problem.

A more permanent solution is a TurnONE PS pump.

PS: This is how my fluid looks after one day of auto-x (usually a total of only 3-5 miles of racing). It starts relatively clear! :eek:

http://img457.imageshack.us/img457/6606/burntsteeringfluid25xv.jpg

^ huh. That's how mine looked.. Like OLD motor oil..

I've head about that PS pump.. I'll have to look into it a bit more.

My ps fluid looked like wdtiger's when I changed it out for the Valvoline Synthetic fluid. How about some cooler and mounting recommendations.

I'm uploading a vid of the cruise now..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uGQGHdY22s
You call that pushing it?!?! :think:

Lame!!!! :tired: :p ;)

You really should try some organized racing events if you REALLY want to see what your car can do :yes:. Gives you a WHOLE NEW respect and appreciation for your car :cool:.

WRT the PS problem, obviously the factory cooler that came on all of the 02's does the trick, because I've never had a problem with my power steering, and I've had the car out for quite a few track days now, pushing the car very close to its limits (and maybe even slightly beyond a few times as well! :lol: ). The only thing that's faded and almost (although not entirely) let me down is the brakes. I don't know if I'll do it next year or not, but I'm seriously considering upgrading to C5 front brakes ... apparently it makes a world of difference (although apparently LT1 --> LS1 brakes makes a world of difference too?! ;)).