Using transcooler in radiator in place of power steering cooler

reydio

Supramania Contributor
Oct 3, 2008
181
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16
Pearl City
I guess this is only good for 5speed people. Our radiator have a transcooler that is not in used. Has anybody used that in place of the cooler for the power steering fluid? I wanted to relocate the power steering reservoir and remove the existing cooler and fabricate a pipe that will route from the radiator transcooler to the PS reservoir.
 

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
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I come from a land down under
Personally I wouldn't as the Mk3 doesn't have a lot of cooling system overhead and you're just placing more load on what little it has.

Get a proper Steering cooler and filter.
 

Asterix

Lurker of Power
Mar 31, 2005
463
32
28
Vienna, VA
Generally, in an MT car, there isn't a tranny cooler in the radiator. There are two versions of the radiator, one with and one without, for AT and MT.

If you have an AT radiator in an MT car, you certainly could use the tranny cooler for the power steering, but it's still a better idea to use a dedicated cooler, per IJ's suggestion.

Asterix
 

reydio

Supramania Contributor
Oct 3, 2008
181
0
16
Pearl City
Thanks IJ and Asterix, it does make sense on the cooling system. Eventually I will relocate the oil filter, relocate power steering reservoir and get a new cooler with filter......

after reading IJ's oil filter relocation......it will be awhile, LOL....the cost is the one that made me hesitate, but it will be done. Right now money is tight with the economy just being so unstable........I have customers that is way past their 30 day billing and have not paid me yet, WOW!!!
 

tlo86

Ninja Editor 'Since 05'
Jul 24, 2005
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Colorado
i upgraded mine a step above 91/92 as my 89 had a line running in front and thats pretty much it... i spent i think... 28$ ? on a cooler and just used normal rubber lines for it..

a little bit goes a long way... the largest killers of power steering systems are debris and heat. eliminate both the best you can and you will have a good functioning system for quite a while. you'll be kicking yourself in the butt if either kills your system in any way
 

Freshmaker

New Member
Feb 3, 2007
396
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Oconomowoc, Wi
I have a 1JZ, but I am using the cooler in my radiator for my power steering. No problems in 30K miles. It was a brand new stock radiator with the swap though.

Trannys dump a lot more heat than power steering, I am not to worried.