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There is a lot more to power steering reservoir design than just a place for return oil flow to collect as it returns to the pump. One of the secrets is to design the reservoir such that the returning oil has a place for the fluid to "calm" and allow air bubbles to rise inside the reservoir, back to atmosphere. You do NOT want the returning oil to go directly back to the pump intake. This allows air bubbles to multiply as the pump continues to churn the air and oil.
You may note some reservoirs have a fine mesh screen inside. The screen is really not to filter metallic or other particles. The return flow is directed toward the screen and allows fine air bubbles to gather on the screen and rise to the surface of the oil in the reservoir.
I just don't think that aftermarket reservoir suppliers understand the "calming" aspect of power steering reservoir design.
I must add that I have been away for many years from actually inspecting aftermarket reservoirs. So the above are just some of my thinking with respect to the effort that Saginaw (Nexteer) engineers went through when designing reservoirs.
Jim
Jim
I agree Jim. The reservoir I'm currently using is just an empty can with no internal fluid control whatsoever. The plan is to upgrade this asap.
St. Jude Donor '05-'06,'11,'13-'14,'16,'18,'19,'24, '25
Supply and return, the T is the return fitting inside the reservoir
This is the new return fitting I made to raise the fluid returning away from the fluid going to the pump. .
Then I placed a fine SS mesh over the return fitting to help with the turbulence in the reservoir. The tie wraps were temp, I replaced them with SS wire. The SS mesh is just tall enough that the lid once installed holds the mesh in place
This is the new fitting installed without the mesh;
The fitting on the side is the Hydra-boost return;
I installed a separate return fitting for my Hydra-boost located above the fluid level to try and reduce the fluid churn. To my surprise there is very little fluid returning from the Hydra-boost.
Neal
Last edited by chevymans 77; Mar 7, 2017 at 12:44 PM.
Supply and return, the T is the return fitting inside the reservoir
This is the new return fitting I made to raise the fluid returning away from the fluid going to the pump. .
Then I placed a fine SS mesh over the return fitting to help with the turbulence in the reservoir. The tie wraps were temp, I replaced them with SS wire. The SS mesh is just tall enough that the lid once installed holds the mesh in place
This is the new fitting installed without the mesh;
The fitting on the side is the Hydra-boost return;
I installed a separate return fitting for my Hydra-boost located above the fluid level to try and reduce the fluid churn. To my surprise there is very little fluid returning from the Hydra-boost.
Neal
Thanks Neal this is great info. Do you by any chance have a pic of your supply line routing from the reservoir to pump? I'm just not happy with my routing yet; it's too close to the control arm.
St. Jude Donor '05-'06,'11,'13-'14,'16,'18,'19,'24, '25
Originally Posted by Neil B
Thanks Neal this is great info. Do you by any chance have a pic of your supply line routing from the reservoir to pump? I'm just not happy with my routing yet; it's too close to the control arm.
I'll look and see if I do and if not I can get one posted for you.
I'll look and see if I do and if not I can get one posted for you.
Neal
Thanks. I'm just trying to figure out the best routing to get the suction line from the bottom of the reservoir to the pump without creating an up-sweep or loop but still keeping it away from the control arm and the headers.
I think I've finally got my power steering woes resolved. I started by taking a baseline temp reading. On jackstands, I brought the car up to temp and cycled the steering with no load. As the engine warmed up, I noticed the steering pump just starting to groan at about 150 degrees. Hot, but not THAT hot. I brought the car fully up to temp until the radiator fans kicked on at 180 degrees. I took another steering fluid temp reading and the fluid was 167 degrees. The pump was groaning with no load when I cycled the steering.
I came to the conclusion that the fluid temp was not the culprit for the groaning because the fluid was simply not hot enough. However, I felt the temps were too high for a no load test (especially since I will be tracking the car). So, I went ahead and bought a cooler. I went with a 13x5" stacked plate style cooler and made a bracket out of 3/16" 6061 aluminum.
I used the nylon braided hose with AN hose fittings for the low pressure cooler lines. I love the nylon hose. It is so easy to use and doesn't mar up paint like the stainless braided hose. Here is the final config with the Chase Bays baffled reservoir.
Since I didn't think the temps were causing the groan, I swapped fluids from the Royal Purple synthetic to good old GM power steering fluid. I ran the same test again and the peak temp was only 118 degrees. That's a 50 degree difference with no load on the system! The pump is now also whisper quiet.
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