pontiacstogo

We competed in our 2nd Autocross event yesterday. Temperatures were in the mid 80's and we did 12 runs with very little downtime. This was due to my wife and I sharing driving duties and a short course - where other (single driver) cars would get some shut down time between runs - ours did not. We would come in from one run and immediately switch drivers and numbers, then go out again. Lots of idling too if someone on the course knocked a cone over or had a problem.

Long story short on the 2nd to last run the power steering was fading and on the last run it went altogether if the engine revs were low or when the car was idling. There was PS fluid overflow around the cap and reservoir. The drive home was fine and I had hoped the low speed/idle power steering assist would come back once the fluid cooled - but it did not.

Have I cooked/damaged the pump or is it just that the PS fluid degraded from the high temperatures? The pump was a NAPA rebuild unit that was installed when I did the Opti - so it's literally six months old and maybe has 200 miles on it. Should I just go ahead and replace it, or is it worth doing a fluid change first with a good quality PS fluid first?

My wife and I are going to run our next Autocross in different heats to give the car more downtime between runs. I'm also looking into options for PS fluid coolers.

Obligatory start video

Injuneer

When you noticed the overflow from the fill cap area, did you look to see if there was evidence of the fluid foaming?

You should download (free) the 1994 factory service manual, if you haven't already, Look at Volume 1 of 2, Part 1 of 2, page 3-5 for "Power Steering Gear Assembly Diagnosis"

http://www.mediafire.com/?40mfgeoe4ctti

pontiacstogo

No foaming that I could see. Guess I'll try a fluid drain and refill to see what happens. From looking around online it seems this is a pretty common problem with the 4th gens so a PS cooler of some sort is in my future.

Injuneer

Did you try a “search” on the “Autocross and Road-Racing..... “ forum? Like most others these days, it’s not a very active forum, but maybe the PS cooler gas been discussed.

pontiacstogo

Yeah there's a few threads there on the subject. Seems like an oil cooler is a must and I'll be installing one before the next event. I was more hoping someone would have run into similar symptoms so that I'd know if changing fluid was even worth a shot. I'm going to try it anyway but I suspect I'll be installing a new pump and if that ends up being the case, I'll reach out to PSC to have mine rebuilt. I hope it's not the rack...

JakeRobb

Overheating PS fluid is pretty common during road course usage, but I’ve not heard of it during autocross (where you run for ~60 seconds maybe five times in the span of a couple hours, with significant cooldown between each run).

The go-to solution for LS1 cars is TurnOne’s power steering pump: https://www.turnone-steering.com/col...s1-f-body-pump

They don’t seem to have one for LT1 cars.

Injuneer

Tick has a kit for the LS1, but it says it works for the LT1 with different routing of the cables. Has a detailed parts list of what's included in the kit, that may shed some light.

https://www.tickperformance.com/tick...or-ls1-f-body/


And going way back, ws6.com has some photos of what he did:

Battery Relocation

pontiacstogo

That's part of the reason for my problem I suspect - no cooldown time between runs - pitfalls of running 2 x drivers in the same car in the same heat.

I've been working with TurnOne - helpful folks. They don't sell LT1 pumps outright but they will rebuild your core unit if you send it to them. My plan is to use a TurnOne pump with a qood quality power steering fluid and a small oil cooler plumbed in. My wife and I are also going to run in separate heats moving forward to give the car more cooldown time between runs.

JakeRobb

Good plan.

Some LS1 cars came with an oil-to-water PS cooler. It plumbs in to the upper radiator hose. I have a spare I'd send you for $50+shipping. Not sure how hard it would be to adapt for an LT1 car, but I don't think it would be terrible. With one installed on my LS1 car, it did 40 minutes straight on a road course with no steering issues, then a twenty minute break, then 40 more on track. The brakes gave up in the middle of the third 40 minutes; PS was still fine.

For the record, I don't think even five minutes of continuous autocross driving would give you problems, so I don't think running back-to-back with your wife is a factor.

pontiacstogo

Appreciate the offer - but I'm going to with an air to oil cooler versus the WS6 setup that was plumbed into the top radiator hose. I've seen a couple of posts where people have had problems with those over time where the coolant and PS fluid end up mixing.

I'll post some feedback once I get the TurnOne pump in.

pontiacstogo

Got the Turn One pump and Redline PS fluid in today. I have power assist again .

We have an autocross event on Saturday and it's supposed to be sunny and 95 degrees. I plan on taking an infrared temperature gun to keep an eye on things as the day progresses.