Hydroboost and overheating PS fluid?

redneckengineered · Dec 13, 2016

Lance sent me some high flow fittings that replaced the shitty low flow fittings in the HB unit. Dug out that brass seat thing from one port and an o-ring seal from another which opened things up. Installed new high flow fittings. Last mod is an internal mod to the valve. I have to have it machined down in one section to accommodate the increased flow. Not going to post details here because while not top secret I don't have permission to just broadcast it to the world but it's a real simple process. Lance also said steering feel when using the brakes should be improved and no more heat issues!

redneckengineered · Dec 13, 2016

jk101 said:
I tried to tell you that to start with.

You were right next time post the solution! :flipoff1:

redneckengineered · Dec 13, 2016

And I'd just like to add, PSC is a great company to deal with. I sent them two burnt up pumps to rebuild, they had them rebuilt and back to me within a matter of days, and Lance went out of his way to help on this hydroboost issue. Always had great luck with their products and service.

ftoy516 · Dec 13, 2016

I will have to second this about PSC.

Kelvin and Lance both went out of the way to help me when i put the Ram on my buggy. I was trying to get my buggy ready for the first Crawling for Reid event and the instructions that came with the ram and pump were VERY lacking to say the least.

I am not a mechanic...so when i went to put the bolts in the pump to put it on the motor they would not fit because you can NOT put the bolts in with the pulley installed on the pump,..you have to put the bolts through the pump first and then install the pulley (which the instrustions do not tell you)

Long story short, i broke the pulley trying to get it off (even with the correct puller) when i called them and explained what had happened they went out of there way to get me a pump to my door so i could make that ride! It showed up and I worked on that ALL day before the first Crawling for Reid ride and did not get in to Chattanooga that night until 2:30 in the morning... The guys at PSC made that happen so i was able to go and support such a wonderful event and i can't say enough great things about them taking care of me!

I will support them in the future when I need other products, based on this experience.

Beefcake · Dec 17, 2016

I've been looking at buying WOD hydro brakes for my build but this thread makes me a little cautious. I'd hate to spend that much on a product only to have to break it down and swap parts. Did wide open figure out the complete issue was the fittings or is this just an isolated incident? At least it seems you got it figured out.

redneckengineered · Dec 19, 2016

Beefcake said:
I've been looking at buying WOD hydro brakes for my build but this thread makes me a little cautious. I'd hate to spend that much on a product only to have to break it down and swap parts. Did wide open figure out the complete issue was the fittings or is this just an isolated incident? At least it seems you got it figured out.

It's my understanding WOD gets these units pretty much turn key from hydratech. PSC and WOD are close, as I know they do a lot of business together. Lance told me he was going to communicate the issue to Rocky so he should at least be aware of it. Just be sure if you order one, call Rocky first and make sure you want to have it modified for high flow. They may start doing this to all the units on their own, IDK. But I'd definitely call and verify.

redneckengineered · Jan 3, 2017

Well I don't know what the ****. Did all the high flow mods, assembled with a "new" rebuilt pump and everything seemed great. Part way into the ride after we had been on some pretty demanding trails, the pump started whining. Checked the fluid and it seemed hot as hell again. Let it cool (it was a really cold day too) and all was back to normal. I'm about to give up and just put manual brakes on. Tired of ****ing with it and rebuilding pumps gets expensive. To me, the pedal seems really slow to return but I don't know if that's normal or not and sure don't know what the fix would be anyway.

zukimaster · Jan 3, 2017

Just throwing this out here, I burned a couple of p pumps up on my piece of ****, and went to Amsoil fluid and a big cooler with a fan, can ride all day and the fluid stays cool enough to stick your finger in it.

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redneckengineered · Jan 4, 2017

zukimaster said:
Just throwing this out here, I burned a couple of p pumps up on my piece of ****, and went to Amsoil fluid and a big cooler with a fan, can ride all day and the fluid stays cool enough to stick your finger in it.

Well initially I was going to go the bigger cooler route but I think that would be a band aid fix. I feel like something else is going on internally causing the overheating. I want to be sure and get that right first. I did talk to Lance again at PSC, he was confident in our fix and said run it again. It's possible the whining was just an air pocket or piece of trash. We did ride the rest of the day after that with no issues.

The fluid we're running shouldn't be an issue. It's pretty bombproof stuff.
http://www.pscmotorsports.com/kse-elixer-32oz-power-steering-fluid.html

redneckengineered · Oct 26, 2017

Just thought I would post an update.

Got fed up dicking around, yanked the hydroboost unit all together and went to manual brakes. Went riding last weekend and the steering didn't overheat and Jessica (this is on the GFs buggy) commented that the steering felt better overall. Brakes were obviously not as good but she got used to them quickly and they are completely adequate for the riding we do. No more blown pumps and burnt fluid. We're happy.

As an aside I was talking to Rocky at WOD earlier in the week and this topic came up. They are now building the pumps in house and doing all the modifications to them to make them happy with our high flow steering systems. I still think the hydroboost needlessly complicates and puts additional strain on a critical system so I'm not a fan but some people swear by it so I figured this was worth mentioning.

kmcminn · Oct 26, 2017

redneckengineered said:
Just thought I would post an update.

Got fed up dicking around, yanked the hydroboost unit all together and went to manual brakes. Went riding last weekend and the steering didn't overheat and Jessica (this is on the GFs buggy) commented that the steering felt better overall. Brakes were obviously not as good but she got used to them quickly and they are completely adequate for the riding we do. No more blown pumps and burnt fluid. We're happy.

As an aside I was talking to Rocky at WOD earlier in the week and this topic came up. They are now building the pumps in house and doing all the modifications to them to make them happy with our high flow steering systems. I still think the hydroboost needlessly complicates and puts additional strain on a critical system so I'm not a fan but some people swear by it so I figured this was worth mentioning.

I was seriously considering hydroboost. But changed my mind after reading all this a few months back. They way I see it is, with all the stuff to worry about going wrong on your rig why add this.

redneckengineered · Oct 26, 2017

kmcminn said:
I was seriously considering hydroboost. But changed my mind after reading all this a few months back. They way I see it is, with all the stuff to worry about going wrong on your rig why add this.

That's exactly my take as well.

Bebop · Oct 26, 2017

redneckengineered said:
As an aside I was talking to Rocky at WOD earlier in the week and this topic came up. They are now building the pumps in house and doing all the modifications to them to make them happy with our high flow steering systems.

Are they doing anything to the hydroboost units ?