Power steering cooler line

[Broo]

Recently, our van (2004 Sienna) had a power steering fluid leak, severe enough that the PS fluid tank was empty overnight.

Found out that the leak came from the front of the radiator, the PS lines make a detour over there before coming right back besides the "feeding" line then going back towards the engine compartment. According to the manual's schematics, this is called the PS cooler line. It was rotted out and developed a leak. There is no heat sink around it, just a simple bent steel line.

A mechanic friend told me that he sees this problem quite often and usually simply removes the cooler line and links the two ends together closer to the engine. Since everything is closed for Easter and I don't want to wear out the PS pump prematurely, I did as he said.

Although he said he never had a customer come back for a problem related to PS fluid temp after doing this surgery, do you guys think it's better to spend for a probably expensive new cooler line or can I safely keep driving as-is for years to come ?

 

[Linctex]

I think you can drive it forever as it is.

 

[Imp4]

Originally Posted by Linctex
I think you can drive it forever as it is.

 

[cjcride]

No worries.
Canada has a natural cooling all it's own.

 

[Dinoburner]

Not sure that deleting PS cooler should be done. The manufactures have a reason to install various coolers or they would save the money. Case in point are utility trucks used for meter reading etc. They are stripped down vehicles that will have a PS cooler because of the type of work done.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Will be of no issue at all unless you find yourself in a combination of extremes where steering is concerned. Upper limit for PS system is 280. Unless you are coming down here to FL to wrangle loaded trailers at noon time, with full passengers and gear loaded for 2 hours straight, with your wheels in the sand, you're not going to punch up those temperatures.

Easy way out is to go to an auto parts store on Monday, get the right size of power steering or transmission cooler hose, and an off-the-shelf transmission cooler. Slap it in and hook it up if you prefer peace of mind.

I did this with my GMs. I can go for a hard drive and stick my finger straight into the reservoir with no discomfort. More than sufficient.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by Dinoburner
Not sure that deleting PS cooler should be done. The manufactures have a reason to install various coolers or they would save the money. Case in point are utility trucks used for meter reading etc. They are stripped down vehicles that will have a PS cooler because of the type of work done.
My Dad omitted the oil cooler on his 2000 GMC G3500 and proceeded to beat the [censored] out of it for another decade I believe. You might need the extra cooling sitting on the grapevine on the 4th of July or something, but it probably won't make a difference in Canada especially on a 15 year old car.

Loop the cooler lines and run it until the trans blows!

 

[Broo]

Thanks guys, I'll keep running the bypass, yet keep an eye out for a good cooler line from junkyards, which should be few and far between.