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Anyone have power steering fluid leak out the top on track?
I was driving around today and heard some clunking from the front end so I jacked up the car and saw a decent amount of what I thought was oil from the oil cooler I just installed. Good news is it was not oil and the cooler seems to be working well. Did a little more digging and realized my power steering fluid leaked out of the cap at my last track day and dropped from the max cold mark to the min cold mark.
Anyone else have this issue and is there a simple solution? There is a little rubber washer between the outside of the bottle and the inside of the cap, but it seems in good condition and the car is barely 3 years old and 21k miles.
Two immediate solutions:
1) add a power steering fluid cooler
2) run with reduced level when on the track
A third option mentioned is rather low brow -- wrap a rag around the top and zip-tie to the reservoir. Doesn't solve the problem at all, only reduces the mess.
My power steering fluid drops to the cold low level easily after a track day. I closely monitor the fluid levels in between sessions. Need to get a bigger oil cooler soon.
Thanks for the tips guys. I did not realize it was boiling over, but that makes sense as the track I was at is very technical with lots of turns. I might need to upgrade to a different power steering cooler. I just hope I can find room for it as I now have oil lines going right in front of it since I had to reposition the oil cooler to the driver's side.
I don't have terribly wide tires up front (245's), but they are pretty sticky (RE-71R)
The power steering fluid over heats due to constant high RPM. The faster the pump turns, the more head it puts into the fluid. The power steering pump turns slightly faster than crankshaft speed.
The number of turns in a road or the width/stick of the tires has minimal effect on the fluid temp.
A better/additional cooler and fresh fluid will help.
The power steering fluid over heats due to constant high RPM. The faster the pump turns, the more head it puts into the fluid. The power steering pump turns slightly faster than crankshaft speed.
The number of turns in a road or the width/stick of the tires has minimal effect on the fluid temp.
A better/additional cooler and fresh fluid will help.
Hmmm... It had brand new power steering fluid so that was not the issue. So if I just sat there with the engine revved it would boil the power steering fluid? If that were so, then the issue is not heat, but the pump putting "more head into the fluid" from pumping faster at high rpms?
I would check the lines for any kind of blockage too...could be backed up with gunk.
Most of them got replaced for the relocation kit I did when I installed the oil cooler, but I will definitely check that out too if I install a power steering cooler. The only issue is where to mount it as Stillen makes both coolers, but it looks like you install them in the same place like they were not designed to work together.
Hmmm... So if I just sat there with the engine revved it would boil the power steering fluid? If that were so, then the issue is not heat, but the pump putting "more heat into the fluid" from pumping faster at high rpms?
Yes, whenever you try to compress something it heats up. Have you ever touched an air compressor tube that connects to the tank? It is HOT!
Our power steering pump does try to compress the fluid as that is how it builds the 1400+ psi of pressure before the internal relief valve bypasses the pump.
Reverse the bracket and try the other side of the rad?
If not, wouldn't be hard to fab a bracket to fit the holes.
The issue is the brackets are pretty thick so you cannot just reverse it and attach them to the same spot. They would stick out into the core support for the bumper.
The other issue on our cars is that the oil cooler has to be mounted on the driver's side and the oil lines are very tightly drawn right over where the power steering cooler would mount. I know there is a solution, I just have yet to figure it out.
Originally Posted by SonicVQ
Yes, whenever you try to compress something it heats up. Have you ever touched an air compressor tube that connects to the tank? It is HOT!
Our power steering pump does try to compress the fluid as that is how it builds the 1400+ psi of pressure before the internal relief valve bypasses the pump.
Here is some interesting info on the cause of overheating power steering with the engine at high RPM:
Pump Chart From Turn One's Jeff Roethlisberger:
This graph represents pump flow (y axis) vs. pump rpm (x axis) of a stock production pump and a Turn One pump. Analyzing the solid line graph of the stock pump at approximately 900 rpm, the pump achieves flow control mode, which means the pump will deliver one constant flow to the steering box/rack at any rpm above 900.
The 2.6-gpm flow control value is used here as an example. Depending on application, the actual flow control may vary.
Following the dashed line of the stock pump at 5,000 rpm, the pump delivery is 15 gpm. This is the total volume at 5,000 rpm, with 2.6 gpm being delivered to the box/rack. The other 12.4 gpm is being recirculated internal of the pump. This excess flow is what creates high fluid temperatures and robs horsepower.
Analyzing the Turn One pump graph, it achieves 2.6-gpm flow control at 1,300 rpm. At 5,000 rpm, it's pumping a total of 10 gpm, recirculating only 7.4 gpm.
That's 5 gpm less, resulting in lower fluid temperatures and less parasitic horsepower consumption. You may ask why the production pump is designed this way. The reason is to have more than adequate flow at low engine rpm. So, due to production variation, higher-than-average steering effort wouldn't be experienced during low-speed maneuvers.
