Interest in Power Steering Cooler Kit? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

My 986S has bitten the PS death pill... The red clip is melted of course, but the pump is still okay! Some of you may know, but others might not... the 986 and 987 are very susceptible to power steering fluid leaks after a hard day at the track. The fluid's heat build up in the return line melts a hose clip which in turns allow the line to leak. Most Shops will replace the whole reservoir because the clip only comes a joint part with the reservoir. But just a replacement doesn't fix the problem permanently. There are a few solutions, but my local Porsche Race shop owner and friend is going to fab me a front mount Power steering cooler. He asked me to see if there was any kind of interest out there at this point in a ready put together kit. I know many of you guys have already gone this route, but a put together kit would make things much easier. Dan at Stuttgart in known on the east coast for mainly 968 and 944 race cars. The cooler upgrade is a known fix for our problem and much cheaper than the electric pump route.

I think the cross post should be to the Boxster Spec guys and PCA Club Racers and DE'ers with boxsters. I think they are a greay idea.

easyc, Thought you might find this interesting : http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11270 Nick

Ive seen that Nick... Im pretty sure I have found every ounce of web knowledge about this fix in the past three days. And it has been crossed posted on the BRB...

Is the red clip that melts visible in the pic below? [IMG]http://www.********************************************.com/model/986-97-04/main/403-03.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.********************************************.com/model/986-97-04/main/403-01.jpg[/IMG] I presume that adding a power steering cooler to the return line (identified as part #2 in the above pic) would be preferable to adding a cooler to the pressure line (part #1)... Correct?

Lots of our customers have complained of this with track vehicles and we have started on the development of a cooler kit for the power steering in hopes to avoid pump failures that are occuring in DE and other track activities. I am hoping to have it fully tested and on the market by March, just in time for Summer :-)

easy c, I would like to know more. Mine has had 'leakage' in the past and fixed under warranty some time ago. I'm a full-time AXer with sticky 245s up front. Haven't checked the condition after my first DE last month - afraid to look and out of warranty now. Jake - thanks for the response to my engine inquiry - good food for thought. I also just started my first oil leak - suspect RMS. (Ken J) thanks, kj

WATCH OUT!!! That may be the IMS starting to seep oil and thats a significant sign of imminent failure! Look into that, especially if the oil is very black that leaks and has a nasty smell... Thats the oil that has been trapped in the IMS because the bearing has failed/failing/about to fail.

Banana, ...correct, use the return line low pressure.. and... The red clip might be seen at the end of line #7 in the diagram --- BUT, it does not come with the line as a part -- as said before it comes with the pump reservoir. There are also 2 rubber O-rings on the line that actually seal the line to the pump -- when the plastic clip melts the line is pushed out of the pump by low pressure and sometimes leaks before it finally comes out of the pump and blows PS fluid all over the engine and exhaust ( lots of blue smoke !!). Besides the PS cooler we also added a small metal bracket on the return line at the back of the pump -- if the plastic clip fails again the line will remain in the hole and not leak. FWIW... Ed

Thanks, Ed. I haven't "dug in" to the power steering assembly on my car yet (I just bought the car in October, and it's tucked away for the cold Indiana winter at the moment), but I really like driving on the Putnam Park Road course here, and I want to "track-proof" the car reasonably well before I head out there in the spring. I'll take a look at the red plastic clip and see how a metal bracket like you mentioned might fit. I'm also pondering the possibility of fabricating a metal clip to take the place of the plastic clip entirely. Anybody have pics of the red clip (melted or not) that they'd like to share with the group? I've added a transmission cooler to one of my prior cars before, so I'm pretty confident that if I can find a proper-sized cooler unit, I'll be able to install it. (There's not much to it, really...) There are lots of standard coolers in various shapes and sizes out there... Anybody know offhand what the ID/OD of the power steering hard lines near the steering rack are? I'm thinking something like this might work just fine: http://www.jegs.com/p/Derale/961939/10002/-1 (Hard to beat for $29.99 anyway, plus the cost of the -AN lines...)

I posted this recently, hoping this it will help out the next person adding a P/S cooler. Same as the LN engineering solution but with a price tag less than $200. https://youtu.be/b2Uc7WaNu9c