PSC Ram Assist cooler?

QuicksilverJK

QuicksilverJK

Caught the Bug
My PSC on my 3.8L acts up when it gets hot. The steering gets harder until you do one of 2 things either open the hood with it idling for a min to cool things down, or increase RPM. The way that I see it with the fluid at its hottest and thinnest the pump is having a hard time producing enough pressure. The question is if it's because of the heat or the pump. Should I try installing a cooler?
I have bled the system according to PSC instructions several times and even bled it with vacuum as well. And have only ever used their recommended fluid. Also this is the PSC pump that comes with their kit.
Thanks guys, any advice will be greatly appreciated.


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jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
QuicksilverJK said:
My PSC on my 3.8L acts up when it gets hot. The steering gets harder until you do one of 2 things either open the hood with it idling for a min to cool things down, or increase RPM. The way that I see it with the fluid at its hottest and thinnest the pump is having a hard time producing enough pressure. The question is if it's because of the heat or the pump. Should I try installing a cooler?
I have bled the system according to PSC instructions several times and even bled it with vacuum as well. And have only ever used their recommended fluid. Also this is the PSC pump that comes with their kit.
Thanks guys, any advice will be greatly appreciated.


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Click to expand...

Does the steering get harder at all speeds or when you're going slow like in a parking lot and turning into a parking space?

Do you notice the difference in the higher rpms?
 
AdventuresWithReid

AdventuresWithReid

Member
Interested to see what the problem is.. I just purchased a PSC kit and opted for the dual cooler set up pump/trans for $180. Seemed like an inexpensive add on to an expensive kit.
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
QuicksilverJK said:
Yeah I didn't clarify that. Only slow speed hard turns. And with higher rpm I can turn easily even when at a stop.


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I had the same issue with a reservoir and they ended up replacing my pump because the 3.8 idle drops pretty low and the flow falls off.

Contact PSC, they'll get you taken care of.

I installed the Derail cooler - a cooler doesn't hurt.
 
QuicksilverJK

QuicksilverJK

Caught the Bug
jeeeep said:
I had the same issue with a reservoir and they ended up replacing my pump because the 3.8 idle drops pretty low and the flow falls off.

Contact PSC, they'll get you taken care of.

I installed the Derail cooler - a cooler doesn't hurt.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will get ahold of them. Did you go with the double or single cooler? I might as well do it too since I will have the system open.


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jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
QuicksilverJK said:
Thanks, I will get ahold of them. Did you go with the double or single cooler? I might as well do it too since I will have the system open.


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I went with the derail 14" dual pass heat sink cooler.

if you go with the Derail dual pass, when you install it don't bolt the cooler in place until after you bleed it.

Let the cooler hang with the fittings pointing up while you bleed it, surprisingly air bubbles can get trapped in the end of the cooler.

I've seen the PSC rigs while out wheeling and they run the single pass 14" Derail - and they're running on 40's
 
Ddays

Ddays

Hooked
Might also look into replacing the factory supply line with the new PSC version with larger tubing. I have the slow response issue at low speeds (I have the 3.6 tho) and this is supposed to eliminate that. Hinrichs just installed one a short time ago & he's really happy with it.
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
Ddays said:
Might also look into replacing the factory supply line with the new PSC version with larger tubing. I have the slow response issue at low speeds (I have the 3.6 tho) and this is supposed to eliminate that. Hinrichs just installed one a short time ago & he's really happy with it.
Click to expand...

that's basically what they swap out if the pulley is the correct size.

When they swapped mine out the pulley and intake were changed for the 3.8
 
fiend

fiend

Caught the Bug
QuicksilverJK said:
Thanks, I will get ahold of them. Did you go with the double or single cooler? I might as well do it too since I will have the system open.


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If you don't already have a transmission cooler, then consider PSC's dual tranny and PS cooler set up. A little more money, but a pretty nice way to address two issues and once.

I went with the single pass heat sink for my PSC system, which works fine. But a few months later I added a tranny cooler. Wish I had just gone with the PSC dual system, for a cleaner look.


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QuicksilverJK

QuicksilverJK

Caught the Bug
Well after talking to PSC this morning, it looks like I need to install a cooler and see how it does. So I will be going with the double heat sink and monitoring my temps.


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Ddays

Ddays

Hooked
jeeeep said:
that's basically what they swap out if the pulley is the correct size.

When they swapped mine out the pulley and intake were changed for the 3.8
Click to expand...

Really? I was under the impression that this line was something new?
 
tgoss

tgoss

New member
I run both the trans cooler they offer as well as the new -8 return line with Derale 14" single pass cooler for the power steering. Seems to work great however my JKU still runs pretty warm when crawling but I don't get any wonky feelings in the steering at all.
 
NevadaZielmeister

NevadaZielmeister

Caught the Bug
I must express my disappointment on behalf of my friend. Even though I have a 2016 JKU and have a slightly different placement for the reservoir for my ram assist system, I still cannot understand why the folks at PSC require the use of a cooler to make it work on my friend's 2008 JK. My ram assist works perfectly well without a cooler and I noticed no reduction in steering power during low RPMs and/or when the system gets hot. This just not make sense. I suspect that there is a faulty power steering pump that is lowing pressure due to the thinning of the power steering fluid when it gets hot. But that is just me with, of course, limited experience.

I sure would appreciate someone from PSC explaining a bit more about this phenomenon and why one system requires a cooler and another does not.
 
jeffj

jeffj

Caught the Bug
NevadaZielmeister said:
I must express my disappointment on behalf of my friend. Even though I have a 2016 JKU and have a slightly different placement for the reservoir for my ram assist system, I still cannot understand why the folks at PSC require the use of a cooler to make it work on my friend's 2008 JK. My ram assist works perfectly well without a cooler and I noticed no reduction in steering power during low RPMs and/or when the system gets hot. This just not make sense. I suspect that there is a faulty power steering pump that is lowing pressure due to the thinning of the power steering fluid when it gets hot. But that is just me with, of course, limited experience.

I sure would appreciate someone from PSC explaining a bit more about this phenomenon and why one system requires a cooler and another does not.
Click to expand...

It's not anything new that you should run a cooler on this system. It builds a lot of heat and it will or could fry your seals in the pump. I really don't understand why a person would go this far with a modification and not put a cooler on it.


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NevadaZielmeister

NevadaZielmeister

Caught the Bug
jeffj said:
It's not anything new that you should run a cooler on this system. It builds a lot of heat and it will or could fry your seals in the pump. I really don't understand why a person would go this far with a modification and not put a cooler on it.
Click to expand...

Well, since you asked, Off Road Evolution recommended AGAINST the use of the cooler, citing that it creates more failure points in the system. They explained that of the 40-50 (if my memory serves) builds they have never had any issues with their previous customers.
 
jeffj

jeffj

Caught the Bug
NevadaZielmeister said:
Well, since you asked, Off Road Evolution recommended AGAINST the use of the cooler, citing that it creates more failure points in the system. They explained that of the 40-50 (if my memory serves) builds they have never had any issues with their previous customers.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about those stats, but mine was built by them and they put one on it. When I did my own research when I installed one on my 2012 all signs pointed to putting one on.


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