Anyone have experience with power steering coolers?

Rescue6

Rescue6

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So I recently purchased the PSC hydro assist kit I believe it’s the #240 with the XD box hi volume pump etc. I should be installing in the next few weeks. I still need to get some kind of cooler. I know Derale makes some universal heat sink type single and double pass coolers that don’t require a lot of airflow that I would think are fairly high flowing and then PSC sells a tube and fin type with a mount as well. Anyone have any experience with either type or what seems to work best at slow speeds offroad. I’d call PSC but it’s a holiday and I’m trying to get my list finished
Thanks
 
Rescue6 said:
So I recently purchased the PSC hydro assist kit I believe it’s the #240 with the XD box hi volume pump etc. I should be installing in the next few weeks. I still need to get some kind of cooler. I know Derale makes some universal heat sink type single and double pass coolers that don’t require a lot of airflow that I would think are fairly high flowing and then PSC sells a tube and fin type with a mount as well. Anyone have any experience with either type or what seems to work best at slow speeds offroad. I’d call PSC but it’s a holiday and I’m trying to get my list finished
Thanks
Click to expand...
I have a lot of experience with PS coolers. If you are running the PSC stuff, you want the remote reservoir with a -12 feed line and a -8 return line. If you follow this advice and you should, you can't use a double pass heat sink cooler. The two ports on the same end are too close together to get 2 -8 fittings screwed in there. Go with a single pass heat sink style from Derale or similar. We use the ones from PSC. That will let you use a -8 male AN x 3/8" NPT adapter in each end.

It is practically mandatory to run a cooler with a HP pump. It is also mandatory to run the remote reservoir. Do you have a picture of the pump you could put up? That will help me figure out what pressure line to use.
 
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This is what Blaine (mrblaine) helped me get set up in my current TJ, though I'm not running a ram assist. It's kind of a crutch to help the fluid not get so hot that the steering gets stiff or even stops working on trails with a lot of tight turns.

My choice of cooler was due to the limited access to the area behind the grill. The cooler had to be small enough to fit through the headlight opening and even then it wasn't easy to get it all plumbed in. Blaine plumbed this one for my power steering but I plumbed the same cooler I installed in my previous TJ as a cooler for its automatic transmission. Whatever you buy will have to be small enough to fit through the headlight opening, if behind the grill is your desired location.

The issue with the cooler shown below is that the special bracket and machining of its backside to clear the radiator support rods is no longer available. So you are probably faced with a stacked plate cooler rather than what I installed into both of my TJs.

Not easy but worth it...

Hose.jpg


InsertingCooler.jpg


Installed.jpg
 
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mrblaine said:
I have a lot of experience with PS coolers. If you are running the PSC stuff, you want the remote reservoir with a -12 feed line and a -8 return line. If you follow this advice and you should, you can't use a double pass heat sink cooler. The two ports on the same end are too close together to get 2 -8 fittings screwed in there. Go with a single pass heat sink style from Derale or similar. We use the ones from PSC. That will let you use a -8 male AN x 3/8" NPT adapter in each end.

It is practically mandatory to run a cooler with a HP pump. It is also mandatory to run the remote reservoir. Do you have a picture of the pump you could put up? That will help me figure out what pressure line to use.
Click to expand...
I purchased the Sk240 kit it has the pk1852 pump kit included.

213FFD5E-760F-47D4-8DE0-58C56B318DE8.jpeg


33E83373-AADA-4785-B275-7B84D96FA000.jpeg
 
Jerry Bransford said:
This is what Blaine (mrblaine) helped me get set up in my current TJ, though I'm not running a ram assist. It's kind of a crutch to help the fluid not get so hot that the steering gets stiff or even stops working on trails with a lot of tight turns.

My choice of cooler was due to the limited access to the area behind the grill. The cooler had to be small enough to fit through the headlight opening and even then it wasn't easy to get it all plumbed in. Blaine plumbed this one for my power steering but I plumbed the same cooler I installed in my previous TJ as a cooler for its automatic transmission. Whatever you buy will have to be small enough to fit through the headlight opening, if behind the grill is your desired location.

The issue with the cooler shown below is that the special bracket and machining of its backside to clear the radiator support rods are no longer available. So you are probably faced with a stacked plate cooler rather than what I installed into both of my TJs.

Not easy but worth it...

View attachment 70221

View attachment 70222

View attachment 70223
Click to expand...
That is the style I was thinking I should get.
 
Rescue6 said:
I purchased the Sk240 kit it has the pk1852 pump kit included.

View attachment 70229

View attachment 70230
Click to expand...
I don't see the pressure line from pump to steering gear. That pump will use the stock line from a 97-02 TJ which will work perfectly. The return on the reservoir looks like it is -6. If you run the cooler with -8 fittings, you will need the -8 male flare by ORB adapter to plug into that middle port on the reservoir.

When you put the fittings into the reservoir, use red liquid Loctite on the threads. They seal with an o-ring but they will weep a bit and due to how flare fittings work, if you have to break the hose end loose, it will loosen the fitting in the reservoir and you will need two wrenches to break it loose. The Loctite stops the fitting from loosening and also prevents any weeping.
 
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mrblaine said:
I don't see the pressure line from pump to steering gear. That pump will use the stock line from a 97-02 TJ which will work perfectly. The return on the reservoir looks like it is -6. If you run the cooler with -8 fittings, you will need the -8 male flare by ORB adapter to plug into that middle port on the reservoir.

When you put the fittings into the reservoir, use red liquid Loctite on the threads. They seal with an o-ring but they will weep a bit and due to how flare fittings work, if you have to break the hose end loose, it will loosen the fitting in the reservoir and you will need two wrenches to break it loose. The Loctite stops the fitting from loosening and also prevents any weeping.
Click to expand...
Thank you for all the information. I really appreciate it
 
They also have a cooler with -6 fittings should I just get that one or would the -8 be better
 
Sorry PSC sells a derale heat sink cooler one has -6 and the owner has -8 fittings both say single pass
 
Rescue6 said:
Sorry PSC sells a derale heat sink cooler one has -6 and the owner has -8 fittings both say single pass
Click to expand...
-8 all day long. Here is the issue with power steering upgrades. There are lots of ways to do it. Most of those will work some of the time, very few will work every time. I've been doing steering on the TJ since 2000 and have run the gamut from modified stock parts through Tommy Lee, through Howe, through AGR and helped lots of folks with their Redneck stuff and now with PSC. I've been using PSC for about 10 years now and I had more issues with the other brands in a much shorter time period that I've had total with PSC.
Each time I solved a problem, I incorporated that solution into the next build over and over and over. Now I know that while you can feed a pump with a -10, it won't work every time, -12 works every time. Lots of folks can get by with a -6 return until it becomes a problem. -8 return lines are never a problem.
Lots of folks try to run without a cooler, we never run without one, no exceptions.

You are welcome to try it anyway you like and hopefully you won't have to change it and there is a tolerable chance you won't have to.
 
mrblaine said:
-8 all day long. Here is the issue with power steering upgrades. There are lots of ways to do it. Most of those will work some of the time, very few will work every time. I've been doing steering on the TJ since 2000 and have run the gamut from modified stock parts through Tommy Lee, through Howe, through AGR and helped lots of folks with their Redneck stuff and now with PSC. I've been using PSC for about 10 years now and I had more issues with the other brands in a much shorter time period that I've had total with PSC.
Each time I solved a problem, I incorporated that solution into the next build over and over and over. Now I know that while you can feed a pump with a -10, it won't work every time, -12 works every time. Lots of folks can get by with a -6 return until it becomes a problem. -8 return lines are never a problem.
Lots of folks try to run without a cooler, we never run without one, no exceptions.

You are welcome to try it anyway you like and hopefully you won't have to change it and there is a tolerable chance you won't have to.
Click to expand...
I will order the -8 heat sink cooler from PSC and the fittings. I’ll also see if I can upgrade to the -12 feed line. Thank you again for all the time spent sharing you knowledge.
 
I'm reviving this thread because there's a PSC kit sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. All information I needed for the cooler is here, but I wanted to repeat a summary of what I heard, for clarity sake.

  • -12AN feed line to the pump
  • -8AN return line
  • -8AN 16" Single Pass heat sink cooler
I see Jerry's comment that the bracket for the single pass cooler is no longer available. However, I can make one, so I'm okay there. Does my summary list sound correct? If so, verifying that the 16" cooler will fit through the driver side headlight opening?
 
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