What kind of crazy power steering hose setup is this? One hose looks normal and the other one is crazy long. It comes out of the steering box where my middle finger is touching and returns to the power steering pump where my index finger is.

 

it goes down the drivers side below the radiator support....

 

and goes to the passengers side of the radiator support before it curves back to go to the pump. The crimp here has me concerned.....

 

Here is my ps pump, this long line looks like it is held on both ends by some type of pinch clamp (only the steering box side screws in). I thought this side of the PS pump should have a short hose going directly from the steering box to the pump.

Should this be so long?

I am going to try to fix the crimp but I thought it would be better to just put a short hose on ane eliminate all this junk, or should I keep it?

It is a WS6 car.

 

It is perfectly normal.

The loop that goes all the way across under the radiator is the PS fluid cooler.

Don't eliminate anything. Learn how it works, and use it to your advantage. Life is much better that way as compared to just eliminating everything you don't know what it is (beyond cars even).

 

Thanks
I only thought of eliminating it because I need to get rid of that crimp if I want decent fluid flow. As to learning about how it works..... well thats part of why I posted this. If I dont know, I ask
At first I thought it looked odd.

I guess I could smack the crimped part of the line with a hammer to open it up a bit or get some vise-grips on it ans smoosh it out to a round shape again.


Hope I dont offend anyone but.......
You could be wrong (in life)
It is sometimes better to eliminate and replace a woman when you cant figure her out, otherwise you could be wasting your time on her. But cars are worth the extra attention

 

interesting, never knew any third gens came with a power steering cooler.

 

Be prepared for that line to crack when you try to remove the crimp in it, it looks pretty severe.

 

most people don't even notice it. lol

 

Well, I would have to disagree. You can't eliminate and replace a woman when you can't figure her out, especially if you're going to replace her with a short hose (which most of us aren't willing to do) instead.

Back to the issue at hand... I've thought about getting one of the small p/s fluid coolers (tube/fin style w/ inverted flare fittings) that I've seen on some Ford applications at u-wrench-it and putting some fittings on that fluid cooler loop and adding a real cooler there... Anybody have any thoughts?? I know it probably wouldn't be a ton better, but it would look neat as well!

 

That is actually a pretty good idea. In Autocross ( and sometimes Track days...IE: Road Racing) , the heat buildup in the PS fluid can be considerable. Anything that you can do to remove heat from the fluid will help. The stock PS " cooler" is a bit of a joke....but it's normally all that is required.

I've also found that using a good Synthetic ATF...like Amsoil, instead of PS fluid, helps considerably with reducing foaming. No foaming or burning of fluid at all when running the Amsoil ATF. Regular GM PS fluid can be burnt after 1 event in my car.

 

Do all third gens have this, or was it only certain years or part of an option package?

 

To the best of my knowledge, all third Gens have the long loop tube as a PS cooler. So did 2nd Gen's. My 73 Camaro RS had the same thing. So did my 75 Caprice SW.....so I think it is pretty much universal with GM.

 

I've seen some junkyard 3rd gens that didn't have the cooler. Might be a V6 thing? (I primarily look at V6 cars.) But it's strange that around 85-up, most V6's have the p/s cooler.

So maybe the early 80's cars had it as an option, just like a rear anti-sway bar.

Not sure about that crimp in the line tho; that doesn't look normal. Maybe you can find a replacement hard line in the junkyard.

 

So what did those cars have, just a short hose connecting one to the other?

 

Finelines Makes that line in stainless i think im going to get it.

 

I know my V6 has one.

 

My '87 Camaro v6 has one too. Must be a GM thing, because my '93 Pont. Trans Sport has the long tube loop also.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=272896

 

I noticed that on mine not too long ago. I'm use to coolers having fins but figured this was a cheap way for GM to make one for our cars. I would fix that crimp in your line your restricting flow and possibly starving your pump and shortening it's life. I would say eliminating the cooler all together would be better than running it with that crimp. That is if you don't posses the ability to repair it properly. Or better yet order an aftermarket and replace it. No name brands can be found cheap

 

DO NOT use vice grips. You will crush and/ or crack the line. A flaring tool will remove the kink without damaging the line at all. Place the flaring block on the line,around the kink and gradually tighten one end, then the other until the two sides of the tool are together.

 

they sell an replacement line at auto stores for not too much. If its a last resort you can always get a new one.

 

Not a great idea... stainless will only transfer a fraction of the heat that mild steel does...

 

Interesting, my 85 doesn't have this. I wonder what the RPO codes (if any) are for these things.