maybe its not boiling maybe its expansion rate is just high?

 

Boiling may not have been the right term to use. In my case, once I opened the hood, I could only confirm that it had spilled, but can't say it had boiled. I don't think that the heat would have caused much expansion but it could be cavitation. That's when bubbles are created by the pump. If these air bubbles are taking space in the lines, then more fluid ends up in the tank and with enough air in the lines, the fluid overflows. Just a though, don't really know what caused it. The high heat may be causing cavitation.

I'm going to wait and try another DE event and see if it does it again before I decide to change the PS cooler. I'll also check the fluid to see if it has a burnt smell. Maybe it needs changing after it overheated.

 

Is there a way to drain the fluid to get a better quality fluid in there as a preventative measure? Is there a drain plug?

 

if it was causing cavitation you would feel that in the steering response because the air would compress when you tried to steer and would make the steering feel like it was surging

 

Red Line Oil makes some extremely good products and they have a tecnical department that you can actually talk to. They make an outstanding power steering fluid among other oils.

 

My PS fluid boiled at Sebring last week. Got it all over the place - under the hood and on the exhaust. I'm guessing that the PS fluid (like brake fluid) can absorb moisture which may lower its boiling point. 180C equates to 356F, so the temp is getting up there. Guess I'll get a cooler before I go out on track again...

 

I re-read my prior post, and I guess I should have said the temps I saw were in degrees F. I live in America, and I thought that is how temps are measured. My bad. So, my 180 degrees = 180 degrees F. Below the boiling point of water.

 

Reviving this thread from a few weeks ago. I'm going on the same track next week (Waterford Hills) so I have purchased some Redline PS fluid. Local speed shop were I got it said that he started stocking this fluid after Corvette owners asked for it because they had Power Steering failures at the track (under warranty but a pain when you can't finish the day). I compared the specs and it is able to withstand much higher temperatures than normal fluid. I'm hoping this will fix it without needing to get the Nismo cooler. If so, at least I'll have a month before my next event which is a 2 day weekender at Gingerman.

Anyway, my question is how to best change the fluid - all of it - as much of it. One option is to:
1- Use a Mitivac vacuum pump to remove the fluid in the reservoir.
2- Fill reservoir and replace with Redline, probably 200ml.
3- Run engine to get fluid circulating, now have a mix of Redline and Nissan fluid.
4- Perform 1 and 2 several times until fluid is mostly Redline. Total capacity is around 1L.

Any better way to do this ? I'm not sure exactly how the power steering fluid is circulated. I head that just turning the wheels left and right without the engine running, would get the fluid to circulate. Not sure it that includes the fluid in the reservoir. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks
Martin

 

Update after a DE at the same track where I had the PS fluid overflow and thus started this thread. I purchased two bottles of Redline PS fluid and changed out 5-6 times the fluid in the reservoir (driving in between the changes to get the fluid circulating and mixed). The ambient temperature was about 10 deg warmer than at the May DE but I did not get any overflow. The redline fluid fixed my problem for now, so I don't need a larger cooler. I'm going to Gingerman in August so I'll see what happens over there.

 

I did both, the fluid and the Nismo PS cooler. I figured I might as well do both as I had already drained the fluid. It is a simple install, but I will be the first to question $110 for a slightly larger cooler, oh well.

After draining the complete system and refilling, all you need to do is turn the wheel left and right a couple of times when the car is off. Then start the car and hold it for about 5 seconds all the way to the left or right. Filling the reservoir as needed.

I will be up at Gingerman on the 6th and 7th maybe I will see you out there.

 

I'm going on the 13th and 14th with RSR PCA. What's on the 6th and 7th ?

 

Has anyone with a underdrive pulley had their powersteering fluid overflow?

I know the underdrive pulley is underdriving the powersteering so it should be doing less work which should equal less heat. Whether its a big enough difference to prevent it from overflowing is another thing.

 

The Chicago PCA event, there should be a couple more Z's joining me as well.

 

I don't know if this is true. I believe that the only true underdrive occurs with the crank pulley. I believe the PS and alternator are only lighter. I'm pretty sure this is the case with our cars.

That being said, I have never had problems with PS overflow to date. I may be going to the track soon here, and it is really warm here. We'll see what happens.

-Steve

 

The underdrive crank pulley underdrives the powersteering as its attached to it. This is why your steering feels heavier after you install it.

 

boiled mine over at the last drift day, thinking of buying a cooler and some better fluid since ill haveto drain it anyways

 

Did you have a UR pulley installed?

 

I would try the fluid only first. For $20 of oil and no need to remove the front bumper, it has worked for me. I went again on the track this weekend. Still no overflow. Much better than possibly damaging something while installing a $130 oil cooler.

 

yeah im feeling cheap, so im gonna try the fluid, is there a writeup?

and no i dont have a UR pulley

 

yea is there some sort of valve or plug to drain the fluid?

i boiled mine the same way bob did