Subaru rack V8 power steering runs hot

[sweetride2go]

A year or so ago, I got my Z running again, and this time I installed the Subaru rack and have been driving it since without the power steering hooked up. Yesterday I finished the plumbing and took it for a quick drive, which was nice since the steering was a bit heavy being a power rack without the power, haha. It is plumbed to a GM Type-II pump, and I am using Royal Purple ATF since that's what the Subaru manual calls for(Dexron III ATF). The resivor is close to the pump, and the whole system took just under a quart.

 

My concern is that after a five minute drive the power steering system gets so hot that I cant touch it. What could I do to lower temps? My belt may be a bit tight, could that be a problem? Should I plumb in a oil cooler? Could the ATF be to viscous for the GM pump?

 

Thanks

Ryan~

[fastzcars]

you need to add a small oil cooler! even the subi used a long "U" shaped aluminum tube to act like a cooler/. I just went on summits racing web page and bought the smallest oil cooler they sold and installed it on the RETURN low presurre side of the line to the pump. that should take care of your problem

A year or so ago, I got my Z running again, and this time I installed the Subaru rack and have been driving it since without the power steering hooked up. Yesterday I finished the plumbing and took it for a quick drive, which was nice since the steering was a bit heavy being a power rack without the power, haha. It is plumbed to a GM Type-II pump, and I am using Royal Purple ATF since that's what the Subaru manual calls for(Dexron III ATF). The resivor is close to the pump, and the whole system took just under a quart.

 

My concern is that after a five minute drive the power steering system gets so hot that I cant touch it. What could I do to lower temps? My belt may be a bit tight, could that be a problem? Should I plumb in a oil cooler? Could the ATF be to viscous for the GM pump?

 

Thanks

Ryan~

[johnc]

A year or so ago, I got my Z running again, and this time I installed the Subaru rack and have been driving it since without the power steering hooked up. Yesterday I finished the plumbing and took it for a quick drive, which was nice since the steering was a bit heavy being a power rack without the power, haha. It is plumbed to a GM Type-II pump, and I am using Royal Purple ATF since that's what the Subaru manual calls for(Dexron III ATF). The resivor is close to the pump, and the whole system took just under a quart.

 

My concern is that after a five minute drive the power steering system gets so hot that I cant touch it. What could I do to lower temps? My belt may be a bit tight, could that be a problem? Should I plumb in a oil cooler? Could the ATF be to viscous for the GM pump?

 

Thanks

Ryan~

 

Check the pulley ratios and make sure you're not spinning the pump too fast. You'll need to measure the stock Subaru pulleys first unless you can find that number somewhere on the internet.

[sweetride2go]

Thanks guys. I put a cooler on, and checked my pulley ratio's. The pulley ratio I'm running now allows the pump to run slower than in it's predecessor GM setup. The cooler helped a lot. Now it runs barely luke warm to the touch. This could be partially due to the oversized cooler I am running, I had a trans cooler laying around...

 

The power-steering is nice too! I think I could really get used to this, haha. It's responsive, but yet I can still feel the front end, descent feedback, and it doesn't steer too easily. Hopefully this is it, 'cause I'm sooo tired of making/modifying braided stainless AN lines.

 

Thanks again

Ryan~