It seemed crazy to me to pay over $100 for the Nismo PS cooler when there are so many aftermarket coolers out there at a fraction of the price. I decided to make my own.

I started with the Derale 13200 Cooler Kit


This kit cost $23 at a local hot rod shop (Summit Racing has them too). The core itself is 10" long where the factory PS cooler core is 5.5". Nearly double.

Here's a side by side picture of the two.


Install is easy. After you drop the under tray, First work on removing the cooler lines from the stock cooler. They can be a serious biotch. Have a drain pan ready to catch all the PS fluid that will drain out.

Once the fluid is drained, the Derale cooler accepts the stock hoses perfectly. To mount the cooler, I put two 1" square pieces of thin weather stripping on the factory PS cooler brackets, centering them over the holes where the bolts go.

Next, coming in from behind the brackets, I ran the two zip ties that come in the kit. Then run them through the cooler, add a bit more weather stripping (two pieces come in the kit) and put on the locking disks.

Refill with ATF and bleed the air out of the system

Here's a finished picture.

 

Noticable difference when tracking?

 

how do you bleed the system?

 

Just did it today, so I won't know if it improves tracking until summer.

To bleed the system, you turn the wheels lock to lock a few times to get the air bubbles out.

 

you turn wheel lock to lock with engine/power on or off?

 

1st, great low $ alternative to the rip-off Nismo PS cooler.

And to answer J's question.....the PS pump works when?

 

since J is a moron and doesnt know cars at all but to drive it like a wuss
J guesses power steering pumps when power is in "ON" mode
well its 50/50 lol
hopefuly im right

 

Did you just PWND yourself? LOL if you did

 

well its like true/false... 50/50...
hopefully i didn't pwn't myself
but to my defense... i was never car literate

 

You do this with the engine running.

 

Looks like a good mod to me...
i think im going to do it...

 

Thanks for the info 350Zteve, I might give this a try also.