Does anyone have experience with adding a power steering cooler ( std. on Z51 ) to a FE1 or F45 equipped car? Are there any problems?

 

ttt

 

no problem doing it at all :thumbs:

 

I have a Z06 which comes with the cooler. Its a tight fit, but doesn't seem very difficult to install. The hardest part would be determining where to install it, if you've never seen where it goes.

If you purchase one and there aren't instructions with pictures, post back or email me and I can take some digital pictures of where the cooler mounts to and where the lines connect.

Also, I'm sure you will have to bleed the air out of the power steering system, so make sure you know how to do this per the instructions or per the service manual.

 

The install is by no means a piece of cake. Shortie line wrenches are a help, but you aren't gonna want the wife and kids around for this one. I followed the directions I found here in a post and then grew new knuckle skin:

"I purchased the Z-51 PS cooler from Ken F. and installed it last week. It took 5 hours and was a real bitch to install! Yes it does bolt in on the frame in existing holes. Not the same ones, but they are there. The problem was disconnecting the old “cooler” pipe from the existing PS pump. VERY small area to work in. Takes an 18 mm wrench or two to remove the pipe union. I ended-up grinding the edges off a Sears shorty 18 mm open head and cutting a slot in the head of a long Sears 18 mm box wrench, all just to get the pipe union off. Same problem getting the new connection tight. VERY small area to work in. You will also need new PS fluid as you do not want to reuse the old. 2 G.M. or Redline bottles will take you all the way. Worth it? Yes. The PS steering has been the weak link in the suspension set-up. Same with the F-Body. The LE-1 option there also has (or at least had) the PS cooler. The Z-51 cooler is a real heat radiating fluid cooler placed in the flow of air. The stock trombone on the C5 tells me that G.M. is aware of the problem but does not want to use the best fix on all the cars. So you have to do it yourself."

 

I have the Z51 PS cooler on my 99 with F45 and I have had no problems at all.... :blueangel:

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

I have an '01 C5 Vert. During recent autox events my power steering pump has started to whine after the first few hard turns. Is this noise a result of the heat? Would a cooler help solve the problem? The dealer couldn't find anything to justify replacement of the the unit. Any other suggestions to solve the problem?

 

Does your 01 have the Z51 suspension package?

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Installed one on my 03 Coupe about a month ago. You need a 18mm flare nut wrench and have to remove the Alternator to get at the tube nut on the steering rack. Getting that nut loose and tightened is the hardest part. If you can accomplish that the rest of the job is easy.

 

No. Just the standard C5 package.

 

This looks like a job for jmX and operation ls1howto!

Help us plebians! We need step-by-step idiot-proof directions! :D :D

 

lhorowitz-

Yeah, it sounds like you need it. I don't know why it wasn't put on all the cars, since you don't want the power steering pump to run hot.

It has been a long time since I did this, so the details are gone from my head. I just used the shop manual and went at it. The holes for the new unit are already in the frame over towards the passenger side from where the stock trombone is. You do not need to mess with the altenator, at least not on a 2000 car. The problem is this one bolt - you will find it soon enough! It's not brain surgery, just a PITA, but with the right tools mentioned above you will get it.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to have to do it since I have a lot of races coming up, and some are in some pretty warm locations.