Power Steering Slosh/Overflow/Overheat

[JDMac34]

I use my 2002 V6 as an autocross car and have been having issues with power steering fluid coming out the vent hole on my reservoir cap. While I haven't ever seen it bubbling after a run, I have a suspicion that the flid is getting too hot, expanding past the "hot" fill zone, then sloshing out around turns.

The fluid is currently pretty black and smells burnt, so step 1 is to definitely flush the system. I've seen videos and should be fine with that part. While I'm in there, I'm thinking about upgrading to a cooler that is better than the tube that the car came with. Here is a link to the cooler that I have in mind. The last step to address would be the cap itself. Fluid is definitely coming out the vent hole and not around the o-ring. My thought is to drill that hole larger, thread some fitting into that, then run some sort of vent tube off it similar to what you would see on an ATV fuel cap.

Any thoughts?

 

[cobrajeff96]

Just make sure wherever you run the vent tube to that it's not a sealed container. The reason they have those pinholes in the cap is so that the vapor can escape but also so that it doesn't put a vacuum on it. Other words the liquid and gas should be able to move freely as it needs to because there is some pressure happening inside from the return side (from cooler part of the circuit).

 

[JDMac34]

A little bit of a late update here: I ended up modifying the cap like I mentioned in the first post and flushed the system with new fluid, and it seems like it fixed my issues! I went to an autocross a couple of weekends ago and raced on a long fast course and used my car as a 2-driver car. It was by far the hardest my car was pushed, the hottest it has ever gotten, and didn't have any problems with the power steering!


Does this look sketchy enough? haha

 

[ttocs]

A little bit of a late update here: I ended up modifying the cap like I mentioned in the first post and flushed the system with new fluid, and it seems like it fixed my issues! I went to an autocross a couple of weekends ago and raced on a long fast course and used my car as a 2-driver car. It was by far the hardest my car was pushed, the hottest it has ever gotten, and didn't have any problems with the power steering!

View attachment 19126
Does this look sketchy enough? haha

I can't say it didn't make me think "WTF" for a second but I get it.

 

[JDMac34]

I can't say it didn't make me think "WTF" for a second but I get it.

The wood screw plugging the old vent hole really is the icing on the cake.