High pressure powersteering return lines?

[oldblue05]

I put a saginaw pump off a 79 lincoln continental on the truck in my sig and did a hydroboost upgrade; I also decided to use the trans cooler that is built into my radiator for my powersteering system since its a manual anyways, and now all the fittings in the return line from the gear box to the pump are leaking, BAD.

pic of the pump installed:

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hydroboost setup, no leaks:

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here you can see that hard line that comes out of the gear box that was part of the original oil cooler, I cut it and used the hose to go to the new cooler. And of course thats where the leaks begin.

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The hose then runs down the side of the rad hose with an inline filter to the drivers side of the oil cooler, and comes out the passenger side going back up to the pump reservoir.

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All the fittings from the gearbox to where oil exits the cooler are leaking, but not where the line goes back into the pump. Everythingis good and tight, I have double checked everything including all hose clamps, my first thought was maybe this pump has some sort of high pressure return system, but that makes no sense so I ruled it out and am now lost.

I posted this on another forum thinking the saginaw might be the issue but that doesn't really add up either.

 

[anthonyj]

Does the transmission cooler in the radiator have enough flow capacity for the power steering system.

 

[oldblue05]

Hmm thats a good question, I would assume since the exit of the cooler is leaking just as much as the entrance yes...

 

[bghnkinf350]

May I suggest going back to the factory cooler set up? Two things come to mind.....could the trans cooler in the radiator actually be heating the fluid up? Not sure how hot the fluid gets, but I THINK it does not get up to 195. Also, could there be a small/hairline crack allowing pressurized coolant to pressurize the return line system?

Also unreltated, from the voice of experience, you might want to mount that fan to tabs bolted to mounts on the radiator. The through the fins set up can and has bent tubes causing leaks (did it to mine).

 

[oldblue05]

May I suggest going back to the factory cooler set up? uhh, it no longer exists... Two things come to mind.....could the trans cooler in the radiator actually be heating the fluid up? Not sure how hot the fluid gets, but I THINK it does not get up to 195. Also, could there be a small/hairline crack allowing pressurized coolant to pressurize the return line system?

Also unreltated, from the voice of experience, you might want to mount that fan to tabs bolted to mounts on the radiator. The through the fins set up can and has bent tubes causing leaks (did it to mine).

Rad is brand new so shouldn't have any cracks, I drained most of the powersteer fluid and there was no water in it whatsoever, AND the leak is when everything is cool as well as hot. I pulled the cooler and filter out of the equation and leaks went away. So I'll scrap using the built in cooler and get a univerasal one and go half inch lines.

The through tabs are temp, as quite a few things on this truck currently, I am in a mad dash as I have to be out of my house and moved 400 miles by the end of the month using this truck.

This is the current state of my life>

 

[oldblue05]

Oh one more thing, would it really be any kind of a problem to temporarily not run a cooler?

saginaw has a huge reservoir, it's 2wd and doing alot of highway miles that lead to not much turning in the first place... keep in mind it is hydroboost as well, if that even matters.

 

[subway]

sounds like to much back pressure on the system. just relating to how another system is, the power steering lines on my old Jetta routed frome the front of the motor all the way to the back and around the transaxle to the steering rack. they were about 1/2-5/8 size or whatever the metric equivalent was.

 

[ford390gashog]

Have you looked at your inline filter??? What brand is that?? it needs to have a bypass in it like the magnafine filter does or the back pressure gets to high!

 

[oldblue05]

I have never heard of a filter with a bypass, what is the point of a filter that has a bypass? There must be something I'm missing.

 

[towcat]

time to 86 the radiator cooler. they don't flow enough
tube type cooler system is the best. not great for transmissions but good for power steering due to flow velocities.

 

[oldblue05]

time to 86 the radiator cooler. they don't flow enough
tube type cooler system is the best. not great for transmissions but good for power steering due to flow velocities.

That's the plan and the lesson learned today and around 20 bucks of powersteering fluid later, I just realized I didn't state it on here. I did on pirate, I'm gonna use 1/2" material as well(filter and cooler).

 

[towcat]

That's the plan and the lesson learned today and around 20 bucks of powersteering fluid later, I just realized I didn't state it on here. I did on pirate, I'm gonna use 1/2" material as well(filter and cooler).

3/8" TUBE is plenty enough.

 

[typ4]

Most oil filter systems have a bypass, engine oil systems are usually in the base. So high pressure when oil is cold doesnt grenade the filter.
That filter in the return on the ps is way small.

 

[oldblue05]

I have a big one that is 1/2" line already is why I'm gonna just go that way and I wasn't happy with the little one in the first place it was just what they had...

 

[Exekiel69]

The radiator cooler does not allow for enough return flow, some times it will leak when it is really bad and some other times it will put pressure on the brakes and that is how You can tell something is wrong, guess how I know.