Hydro assist... do you run a cooler?

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
Just looking for some opinions from those of you that run hydro assist steering. Do you also run a power steering fluid cooler? What about an extra power steering reservoir?
 
I run one on the xj. Seems to be a good idea. I do not run an extra fluid res though.
 
Yes.
 
Yes, I run a small/medium sized automatic transmission cooler.

I do not run an extra reservoir. I did however cut the neck off the stock pump housing, and extend it about 8-10" with a piece of rubber hose to increase the capacity.
 
drkelly said:
Yes, I run a small/medium sized automatic transmission cooler.
I do not run an extra reservoir. I did however cut the neck off the stock pump housing, and extend it about 8-10" with a piece of rubber hose to increase the capacity.
Click to expand...

That's what I done as well.
 
While I don't have hydro assist, I do know my PS gear *loved* the addition of a cooler on the return line!
The fluid used to get hot after an hour (sometimes quicker) on the trail ... pump would groan & whine, steering effort would fluctuate between normal & "Popeye" in a few seconds and the lines would be nuclear hot.
I threw a cooler (8"x12" Ferd tranny cooler from JY) on the inner fender, plumbed it... Steering stays consistent, noise from the pump went way down, & the lines are noticeably cooler.

Could an aux (*sealed*) reservoir be plumbed in on the return side? Pump> box> aux reservoir> cooler> Pump without any issues like air bubbles, etc? Seems the return pressure would be enough to keep it all bled & flowing? (Zero room to extend the the current ham-can)
 
Ive got hydro assist and hydro boost on my 78 F150. I'm running an aftermarket transmission cooler that is about 8"X10". I'm also using a saginaw P-pump with the chevy van reservoir (off a 95 G20) it doesn't use a filler cap, just a 5/8 nipple to run to the external reservoir. My reservoir came from a 98 E150 though because it holds a little more fluid than the G20 res.
 
I'm running assist and hydro-boost both so I'm usin a Ford Exploder tranny cooler,filter and second res from a Isuzu Trooper.Whole system holds about a gallon of fluid.I also switched to straight hydraulic fluid.
 
Well it looks like a cooler for my power steering is on the to buy list :)
 
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