I've been trying to get familiarized with this truck I bought last month and noticed something I don't understand. I see the radiator (of course) the a/c condenser and intercooler - but no oil or power steering coolers. Seems odd to me a heavy duty truck like this would not have these coolers. I know alot of vehicles not just trucks, are coming from the factory with these coolers nowadays.

What do you guys think about installing aftermarket oil and PS coolers? Has anyone done it, and if so, what did you do, how'd you plumb it, etc.?

 

Your truck dus have an oil cooler you just cant see it!
the next time you change you oil, were you filter spins on, is a oil over coolant cooler! or maybe a coolant over oil cooler! you will now if it gos bad cus your over flow bottle(coolent) will start to over flow with oil!!!! had to replace my oil cooler just after i bought it. what a mess!!!!

 

Duh! So anyway, I've just about got the steering straightened out, Borgenson shaft, on-center adjusted, flushed, new fluid. Think I'll at least add cooler for that and put the steering at the bottom of the list of things to worry about for awhile...

 

I guess it is on account of the pressure; but, almost every vehicle I have ever dealt with, that had a power-steering cooler, had a power-steering cooler leak.

Most are in a location that soon is plugged up with debris and do little good.

That being said, if you are going to install a cooler, mount a temperature-gauge in your power-steering reservoir and monitor it for a couple of months, before adding the cooler; then, monitor temperatures for another couple months, with the cooler.

It would be interesting to know if a cooler is actually of any benefit.

 

That is good advice. I wouild like to know if my theory is right or wrong. I think the reason thee isn't a need for a cooler is due to the low rpm range of the diesel. Most older vehicles use a long run of tubing behind the front cross member to loose the heat.

 

When I changed my brakes over to hydro I put a cooler in the line. I figured that powersteering would be working harder and I might as well do it.

 

It's not the rpms, but the friction in the hydraulic fluid that creates heat in the PS - not unlike the heat-generating characteristics of the torque comverter in an automatic trans. That said, probably not much of an issue in street driving, but off-road with big tires working it hard in 4lo in tight places definitely would call for some addl. PS cooling, IMHO. Also, heat is the one thing that will kill your lubes faster than anything else. Turbo coking is a good example of this.