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Accord Coupe 3.0L V6 New Power Steering Cooler


hughezee

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This was more of a preventive job although my original cooler was fine with only minor spots of rust showing :P anyway thought I would share a few shots of me replacing mine and before you ask yes your bumper will need to come off :lol: so check this post: http://honda6.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/32-accord-coupe-front-bumper-removal-how-to/

Fill the reservoir just above max mark and then start the engine and after 1 minute shut off the engine leave to settle for a few minutes.

Top up if necessary, but its a pretty straightforward job but any questions please ask ;)

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Nice work there Stu - surprised you didn't paint it matt black to aid with heat dissipation and the extra coat of pant to protect it.

 

I suppose if you were either really stuck or fancied a challenge, you could make a coiled version from flexible copper tubing, solder some copper sheet fins in place and then paint that matt black too.

 

Hmmmm, ideas for an ATF coiler come to mind! :lol:

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Satin Black would be good Geoff but Matt Black is better on something like this as it dissipates the heat better than something shiny, or even slightly shiny like a satin finish.

Perhaps Ed China has a secret stash of Satin Black that needs using up...................

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Think you're right, I know the shows are well edited and slick but he knows his stuff, doesn't he?  I seem to remember seeing somewhere that sometimes they couldn't find a buyer and some of the 'buyers' were actually members of the the film crew?  :o

"Paul" his helper does most of the work Geoff, did you ever wonder why Ed always has long sleeves on while working on a car, makes it much easier to hid whose arms they are.

 

A fair percentage of the cars on there end up off the road quite quickly as well, still it's entertaining enough until Brewer opens his mouth.

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  • 6 years later...

My cooler has started leaking now, so I need to repair or replace it too.  

Couple of questions:  

1) is it really necessary in the British climate?  It strikes me that this pipe doesn't really do a lot of cooling because the surface area isn't that great.  I'm wondering if a shorter length of pipe would suffice?

2) Is the pressure in the pipe very high? I reckon not very high.  

3)Can it be removed and refitted without removing the bumper?

 

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12 hours ago, welland99 said:

1) is it really necessary in the British climate?  It strikes me that this pipe doesn't really do a lot of cooling because the surface area isn't that great.  I'm wondering if a shorter length of pipe would suffice?

Yes, it's not the climate that the cooling is there for, it's to cool the fluid when it is being used.

12 hours ago, welland99 said:

2) Is the pressure in the pipe very high? I reckon not very high.

Given the other end of the pipe from the cooler empties into the PAS reservoir, no, there is no real pressure in the pipe. Would be if you "dead-ended" the pipe but with it open to the tank, no pressure.

12 hours ago, welland99 said:

3)Can it be removed and refitted without removing the bumper?

Probably not sadly.

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11 hours ago, Laird_Scooby said:

Yes, it's not the climate that the cooling is there for, it's to cool the fluid when it is being used.

Where does the heat come from to warm the pas fluid? From the environment in the engine bay, or from within the pas system?  

Either way,  I'd have thought that while driving the flow of air through the engine bay and around the steering rack and other pipes would have kept the temperature of the pas fluid low enough.  

My comment about "our climate" meant that our cool climate would probably cool the pas fluid more than in warmer climates.  

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Today, I found the location of the leak,  luckily (?) it is easily accessible through the bumper.  

I cleaned the area with emery cloth and I separated one of the joints to allow oil to drain out of the system.  

I mixed a batch of epoxy putty and applied this around the leaky patch in the hope it will cure the problem.  Fingers crossed:  i'll test it 2moro.  

What is the procedure for refilling the pas fluid? Do I fill the bottle to the line, then start the engine and keep adding more fluid until it stops going down? I expect it is necessary to keep turning the steering wheel left to right to left  to right........ to draw fluid into the system?

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49 minutes ago, welland99 said:

Where does the heat come from to warm the pas fluid? From the environment in the engine bay, or from within the pas system?

Within the PAS system, the pump compresses the fluid which increasses the temperature. Going back ~8 years to when i first got my Volvo, the rack was off-centre in the straight ahead driving position so the PAS was permanently active. Despite the PAS cooler, the PAS fluid still boiled as a result and frothed up through the breather hole on the filler cap.

52 minutes ago, welland99 said:

Either way,  I'd have thought that while driving the flow of air through the engine bay and around the steering rack and other pipes would have kept the temperature of the pas fluid low enough.  

My comment about "our climate" meant that our cool climate would probably cool the pas fluid more than in warmer climates. 

See my comment above about the PAS fluid boiling in my Volvo.

33 minutes ago, welland99 said:

What is the procedure for refilling the pas fluid? Do I fill the bottle to the line, then start the engine and keep adding more fluid until it stops going down? I expect it is necessary to keep turning the steering wheel left to right to left  to right........ to draw fluid into the system?

Fill to the line, start the engine and slowly turn the steering lock to lock to lock continuously until bubbles stop appearing in the reservoir. Switch off, wait until cool again and top up to the line.

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I have two different pas fluids in stock, so wondering if it makes a difference which I use in the coupe.  

1)Comma psf1L. Says it is compatible with all atf fluids and suitable for most power steering systems. Fluid is red.

2) febi bilstein power steering fluids Nr21648. 0019892003.  No usage guide on the bottle.  Fluid is sort of pale brown colour. I bought this years ago for the hydraulic fluid in the self Levelling suspension in my old merc w210.  

If no strong opinions received soon, I'm going with the comma.

 

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I know my CR-V needed a Honda-specific fluid, found some on ebay about half the price of the Honda stuff. Would be wise to check the requirements for your car, possibly shown on the reservoir cap and then search on ebay for the fluid denoted there.

With the fluids you have, the second one sounds as if it may have absorbed water, not sure what fluid exactly it is but if it behaves similarly to brake fluid (given the use you bought it for, quite likely) then the brown colour could have come from absorbing water and going milky like old brake fluid does. I'd be inclined to throw it away or put it in a corner if you're likely to need it for your Merc again then check the colour against what's in the car.

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Good news! The leak seems to be fixed!  

I'd post a pic of the repair, but I've forgotten how.  

If someone could remind me, please....... Are we still using photobucket? Or is there an easier way using Google photos?

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52 minutes ago, welland99 said:

Are we still using photobucket?

Most of us gave up on PHotobucket when it held us all to ransom for $399/year for access to our photos! Many of us use postimages.org now, similar idea to PB but use the "Direct Link"  - you'll soon get the hang of it.

Glad your repair worked too! ;) :D

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