I think the weight issue is a null and void one , those coolers are made of aluminum they weigh less than a quarter of a pound , in fact I'm sure the cooler weighs less than the loop , since the coils in it are much shorter and made of aluminum ,and even if it weighed a pound or two , I dont think it would make any difference to a semi peripheral port ed , custom twin turboed motor ! p
Presently I have one of those oil/transmission coolers right next to the ps loop that I use as a fuel cooler , I am thinking of replacing it with a dual unit that can handle both the fuel and the ps fluid in the same small package .
I need my ps since my car is daily driven , I ran it for quit a while without it when the pully was broken and ...I dont wantto do it again ! its really hard to turn those 255's with out assistance! Thanks for all your comments , I will give it some thought now .

 

Marcel,

Some of the earlier generations had issues of the PS fluid getting too hot with spirited driving, so Mazda thought to fix that in the FD. The stock "loop" that goes into the air path was sufficient for Mazda's needs and I have yet to hear of anyone having a problem with it (including the road racing crowd).

IMO, the FD needs some sort of cooling for the PS fluid. Whether that comes from the stock loop or an aftermarket cooler, I don't think it really matters as long as it happens.

 

if you use a dual unit for your ps/fuel the heat from the PS oil will add heat to your fuel.

 

i'm interested in this topic as well, because te area where the loop is is going to be filled with other heat exchangers.

i know that an aftermarket cooler would be just fine.

my question is, has anyone just plain removed the cooling loop? i don't plan on tracking the car, so the PS pump shouldn't see ridiculous amounts of stress, just standard road use. anyone running no heat exchanger on the PS system?

thanks
ryan

 

^yes. and have any v-mount guys just bent the piping and kinda laid it flat? out of those who tried, how many got a face-full of PS fluid when it broke?

 

I would recommend anyone with a V-mount use an aftermarket PS cooler. That cooling loop just sits too low to the ground otherwise. You can get a PS cooler and all the fittings for under $50, so why the huge topic? The ONLY reason to upgrade the PS cooling loop is if you're running a V-mount IC setup or maaaybe if you're doing lots of road racing. Other then those two reasons there is no NEED to replace the stock loop.

 

Too low as in it might get hit by something, or too low as in it won't get enough air flow?

 

Dont think so , just speculation ! what is the temperature difference between the ps fluid and the fuel passing through the rails ? after all its a cooler so the fluids in it will be cooled to some where around ambient , right ? this is good enough for me . I am also looking at one of the permacool units with the 10" fan on it .

 

Call me Crazy, but I thought PS Coolers are to "Cool" the fluid from the Power Steering Pump as, thinner Hydraulic Fluid tends to be less efficient, and therefore the pump needs to work harder, which makes more heat...

As to having them together, since the Aluminium is the facilitator o heat transfer between Air and Fluid, the transfer material (the cooler) will rise in heat to get rif og that heat.
Now if PS Fluid and Fuel Have roughly the same heating properties I'd say fine, but I think one would be warmer which would intern lower the effectiveness of getting rid of heat on the other (colder) cooler/radiator....

-Crazy

 

Again ... speculation , a good one but still speculation . The engineers and manyfacturers of these coolers have designed these coolers to cool two mediums , in fact they suggest ps fluid , tranny fluid , engine oil or fuel can be used in any of the loops .I am sure all the designing and testing has been done . if you look at one of these coolers , one of th loops is always larger than the other , so the hotter of the two can be cooled better and with constant flow over the core I dont expect a large difference between them or a high overall temperalure .