Failed power steering cooler repair

[Davep24]

hi

spotted a lot of oil dripping from underneath the car last week, turns out the power steering cooler had finally given up the ghost after 79k.

instead of fitting an oem replacement i decided to try something different. One option was the driftworks cooler but i couldn't be arsed removing the bumper and fabricating some brackets.

so i decided to look for alternatives with the following requirements
1) must be able to fit with the bumper still fitted
2) must be able to use existing mountings
3) must be made of aluminium
4) have minimal fabrication

i very quickly found a transmission/power steering cooler by mishimoto for £57 delivered




with the stock cooler removed i got a piece of 10mm square aluminium box section, cut it to length and drilled it so i could bolt the cooler to it. To fit it to the car i cut out some slots for the original screws to sit flush



bolted this to the car



bolted the cooler to the bracket




unbolted the cooler again and fitted the hoses as it was too difficult, and then refitted to the car.

connected the other ends of the hoses to the metal pipes.

The cooler came with, 4 jubilee clips and about 1m of hose which is just enough. Its been fitted since Sunday and i have had no problems with it.

Hope this is some help

[jameshsv]

Looks good

[Black VXR]

So, perhaps a silly question - does the car really need a power steering oil cooler - how hot does it get in normal use?

[Davep24]

final picture of it installed




The aluminium box section is a couple of quid from b&q, the only thing else i need was a couple of nuts, bolts and washers

[Davep24]

Black VXR said:

So, perhaps a silly question - does the car really need a power steering oil cooler - how hot does it get in normal use?

not sure if it is needed or not, i guess its relatively easy to just connect the inlet and outlet pipes and do without a cooler. However Holden put it there for a reason

[fastbikes76]

The 3000GT comes with a similar PAS cooler to the stock one on the Ro, these too are prone to failure from rust. Several owners have simply bypassed the coolers without any side effects after many years. On a road car I feel you could eliminate it, if you do track days etc then I would definitely do similar to the OP.


Nice work OP, a cheap yet effective DIY solution.

[Greg VXR]

Looks like a good job, I have just recently done the same with the MF generic version. Something I did notice, the heat from the system when its jut ticking over is surprising. When starting it up, the pipes were pretty warm and that was sat on the drive under no load.

[neiljohnson]

Why the issue with the bumper?? It really is an easy job to remove it!

[neiljohnson]

Why the issue with the bumper?? It really is an easy job to remove it!

[MyM8V8]

Very nice mod'. This is the kind of thing I like to see on the forum. Well done!

[Davep24]

neiljohnson said:

Why the issue with the bumper?? It really is an easy job to remove it!

its not really an issue with the bumper, but i do have a habit of breaking plastic things when they are clipped into something

[neiljohnson]

Davep24 said:

its not really an issue with the bumper, but i do have a habit of breaking plastic things when they are clipped into something

Fair enough looks a good job to

[ARAF]

Davep24 said:

its not really an issue with the bumper, but i do have a habit of breaking plastic things when they are clipped into something

I know that feeling.

[granada203028]

Looks needlessly large to me and you are obscuring the other radiators. My MK2 Granada had a simple loop of pipe just below the water radiator. My 72 Mustang a small heat exchanger between the fan and engine. So you don't need that much cooling.

[Black VXR]

could it be a problem to 'over cool' the power steering fluid?

Particularly on a cold winters day?

[granada203028]

My cooler failed recently and there appears no chance of getting an original.

So I have replaced it with a U of copper 3/8 pipe. Work extensively use 3/8 stainless Swagelok so I used this for hose tails and junctions. I don't drive the car in hot weather as the AC doesn't work.

[stevieturbo]

Plenty of small rad options out there you could use, but a simple cooling loop like that is common on other cars.

[maccavvy]

i fitted a universal oil cooler 10 row 235mm ,ive had no issues with engine temps or any issues with pas system.
been in about 4 years now.

the originals are prone to rust , when i removed mine it fell apart with corrosion