Next, you remove the coolant hoses and hold down clamps and the radiator comes out. Which we were already doing since we were upgrading to a performance CSF radiator, so it all had to come out anyway.
Next, you disconnect the cooler lines from the OEM power steering cooling pipes.
We removed the leaky stock lines and the reservoir and replaced them with our new parts. This was really straightforward and easy with the radiator out of the way.
Now the stock power steering cooler sits behind the AC condenser. It snaps into a plastic bracket and you can simply unsnap it and remove it from the car.
You see how the stock cooler is just a loop of tubes.
7 comments
Hold the phone, is that a mechanical/clutch fan for the engine? Have you considered an electric one which also would free up some space in that tight area? And the added benefits of freeing up a little HP.
We have definitely considered that and is on our list of upgrades. One thing at a time though 😉
Any real data(fluid temps) before and after?
Nope. This upgrade was prompted by the leaks we found during our radiator install. So we did not go through the process of gathering before data.
Well shoot, I should have done this on my ‘02 when I replaced the radiator.
I’ll add it to the list.
Great article but you really need to include the part number for the new cooler or at least what specific year and model E39 it’s from. The photo is not clear enough to read the full part number.
Agreed. Part numbers would have been great to add to the article. FWIW, the part number shown in the pic is 0159-1042.