I just spent a couple evenings working on my 1994 Land Cruiser. The power steering cooler had some pretty bad corrosion/rust that lead to a leak in the "paper clip" cooler. To help the next guy I wanted to let you know what all needs to done to replace the cooler with an OEM part or like me, a used cooler. It's truly a pain but with some instruction you could be done in few hours. Before I start, I think in hindsight an aftermarket cooler would have been a lot easier to install and nicer to my wallet.
I bought a used cooler of Cruiserparts.net. Note: if you order anything from them, call and confirm the order and pressure them to get the part shipped out to you.
To remove the old and install the new cooler, this is what I did (or slowly figured out)
1.) Remove battery and battery box
2.) Remove fan and fan cover
3.) Begin draining radiator and pull the hoses off the cooler tubes (remove clamps)
4.) Remove front plastic grill
5.) Unscrew and pull out front turn signals
6.) Unbolt headlights and side markers
7.) (Only if you do not have a long 12 or 13 mm socket for nuts on radiator mount bolts) Unbolt radiator core from bracket on either side, 4 small bolts with square nuts on top of radiator. This way you can slip a standard C-wrench over the nuts from above.
8.) Unbolt radiator bracket. (2 straight down, 2 that go forwards with nuts (12 or 13 mm long socket should grip nuts
9.) Unhook large radiator hoses, overflow tube, and replace peacock to stop draining.
10.) Elevate Radiator or remove the other hoses to completely remove it.
11.) The PS cooler is held in by three bolts. Two on top of the cross brace of frame directly under the radiator. and one on the driver side longitudinal frame rail. All three of these need to be undone. I also unhooked the side mounting bracket off the cooler tubes (90 degree bracket) to get the tubes in/out of the small gap between frame cross member and frame cross member. I am not sure if this is necessary. I would try it without removing any brackets from the tubes.
12.) With the radiator elevated high or removed, you should be able to weave the old cooler out of and then the new cooler back into place.
13.) Keep track of which hose connected to which metal tube in step 3.
14.) Mount the new cooler in the reverse process of removal. Once the cooler is mounted, the car reassembly is the reverse of the steps above.
15.) Once reassembled, jack front wheels off the ground and have a buddy turn the front wheels back and forth while you add ATF fluid to the power steering reservoir until you think you have removed all air from the system.
16.) Add coolant or distilled water to the radiator until full.
17.) Start vehicle and let run for a few seconds, turn off and check power steering fluid res. level. Add if necessary.
18.) Cycle wheels back and forth a couple more times with engine off, checking PS res. level
19.) Turn car on and continue cycling steering lock to lock keeping an eye on the PS level.
20.) If all seems to check out, unjack the car and take it for a spin. Keep an eye on the engine temperature and also listen for power steering noise.
21.) After a quick drive, check for leaks, and check PS fluid level. Take action if needed.
I bought a used cooler of Cruiserparts.net. Note: if you order anything from them, call and confirm the order and pressure them to get the part shipped out to you.
To remove the old and install the new cooler, this is what I did (or slowly figured out)
1.) Remove battery and battery box
2.) Remove fan and fan cover
3.) Begin draining radiator and pull the hoses off the cooler tubes (remove clamps)
4.) Remove front plastic grill
5.) Unscrew and pull out front turn signals
6.) Unbolt headlights and side markers
7.) (Only if you do not have a long 12 or 13 mm socket for nuts on radiator mount bolts) Unbolt radiator core from bracket on either side, 4 small bolts with square nuts on top of radiator. This way you can slip a standard C-wrench over the nuts from above.
8.) Unbolt radiator bracket. (2 straight down, 2 that go forwards with nuts (12 or 13 mm long socket should grip nuts
9.) Unhook large radiator hoses, overflow tube, and replace peacock to stop draining.
10.) Elevate Radiator or remove the other hoses to completely remove it.
11.) The PS cooler is held in by three bolts. Two on top of the cross brace of frame directly under the radiator. and one on the driver side longitudinal frame rail. All three of these need to be undone. I also unhooked the side mounting bracket off the cooler tubes (90 degree bracket) to get the tubes in/out of the small gap between frame cross member and frame cross member. I am not sure if this is necessary. I would try it without removing any brackets from the tubes.
12.) With the radiator elevated high or removed, you should be able to weave the old cooler out of and then the new cooler back into place.
13.) Keep track of which hose connected to which metal tube in step 3.
14.) Mount the new cooler in the reverse process of removal. Once the cooler is mounted, the car reassembly is the reverse of the steps above.
15.) Once reassembled, jack front wheels off the ground and have a buddy turn the front wheels back and forth while you add ATF fluid to the power steering reservoir until you think you have removed all air from the system.
16.) Add coolant or distilled water to the radiator until full.
17.) Start vehicle and let run for a few seconds, turn off and check power steering fluid res. level. Add if necessary.
18.) Cycle wheels back and forth a couple more times with engine off, checking PS res. level
19.) Turn car on and continue cycling steering lock to lock keeping an eye on the PS level.
20.) If all seems to check out, unjack the car and take it for a spin. Keep an eye on the engine temperature and also listen for power steering noise.
21.) After a quick drive, check for leaks, and check PS fluid level. Take action if needed.
