Power steering fluid thru radiator

[Warthog]

Just curious if anyone else has ever thought about doin this. Power steering fluid gets pretty hot. Can go up to 300+. I was thinking about a transmission cooler and plumbing it in. Then thought he’ll my radiator has transmission ports why not use that? All my Jeeps are sticks so it’s not used. Just curious if anyone can poke holes in this idea. Not to the power steering part of my builds but mind is always turning, got at least another year on em. What do you think?

 

 

[jdog]

No issue just need more fluid, the larger vehicles and heavy duty use a cooler for power steering

[AZJeff]

I remember my dad's 1968 Ford Galaxy had a PS cooler adjacent to the PS pump.  It was a simple loop of tubing with fins attached to it.  From that, I can infer that you probably don't need a really gigantic radiator to cool the PS fluid.

 

If that assumption is correct, a small aftermarket transmission cooler would be more than effective as a PS fluid cooler.  I would mount it on the return side of the system, where pressures are lower, since a transmission cooler is not designed to handle the pressures the the "high side" of the PS pump can deliver.

[pizzaman09]

1 hour ago, AZJeff said:

I remember my dad's 1968 Ford Galaxy had a PS cooler adjacent to the PS pump.  It was a simple loop of tubing with fins attached to it.  From that, I can infer that you probably don't need a really gigantic radiator to cool the PS fluid.

 

If that assumption is correct, a small aftermarket transmission cooler would be more than effective as a PS fluid cooler.  I would mount it on the return side of the system, where pressures are lower, since a transmission cooler is not designed to handle the pressures the the "high side" of the PS pump can deliver.

My 99 BMW M3 has the same setup as your dad's Galaxy.  It's a simple little line mounted below the steering rack where it gets good airflow.

 

I think the power steering through the radiator transmission cooling ports makes sense.

[WranglerMangler]

I actually have thought about this before. Cooling my P/S fluid made a world of difference with my wheeler. I used an aftermarket transmission cooler mounted in front of the radiator. I highly suggest doing it either way. 
My thought was, If you run your P/S fluid through the radiator instead of in front of the radiator, will it never be cooler than what the truck is running at? Or whatever temperature the radiator cools the water to? As opposed to a cooler in front of the radiator, has a chance to not be at whatever temperature your truck is running at.  I never did any checking on what the before and after temperatures were but if the radiator is constantly accepting water that is 200~ degrees, and your power steering usually runs at 150~, would you want the 150~ fluid next to or inside something at 200ish degrees. Where the cooler in front of the radiator would only accept fluid at 150~ Has a better chance of cooling without getting the hot water involved?  Hope that makes sense. Lol. Numbers just made up.  Let us know if you do it and see if you can get a temperature difference! 

[cruiser54]

On 12/23/2023 at 3:49 PM, AZJeff said:

I remember my dad's 1968 Ford Galaxy had a PS cooler adjacent to the PS pump.  It was a simple loop of tubing with fins attached to it.  From that, I can infer that you probably don't need a really gigantic radiator to cool the PS fluid.

 

If that assumption is correct, a small aftermarket transmission cooler would be more than effective as a PS fluid cooler.  I would mount it on the return side of the system, where pressures are lower, since a transmission cooler is not designed to handle the pressures the the "high side" of the PS pump can deliver.

I'm with Jeff on this. 

[ghetdjc320]

The radiator tranny ports also help bring up the fluid temps for the tranny. More like a temp regulator than a cooler. The PS system can benefit from a cooler but it should be an external unit. An external cooler also adds fluid capacity as mentioned above.