Great to hear that you have the Lee box freshened back up and have also chased out the PS pump noise - hooray! Check that off the list now with a smile.
Ok, soap box time now: It absolutely astounds me after 21 years of owning / operating Hydratech that the aftermarket is still peddling PS reservoirs that are nothing more than a holding tank with zero regards to proper internal engineering. This is fine as a coolant overflow tank, but most definitely not acceptable for power steering use. The PS pump is to be fed a steady supply of calm de-aerated fluid right? This requires a PS reservoir to be more than just a can with some input / output fittings in it. If you think about it, a PS pump is a vane style pump that acts much like a turbine in its operations. Now take and run a high RPM spirited blast with the vehicle and it has the same net effect as putting a quart of PS fluid in a blender and hitting puree. This "agitated" fluid returns back to the PS reservoir, where it must be allowed as much "fluid dwell time" as possible before being sucked back into the PS pump again. This requires careful design to divert returning fluid away from the suction / feed / output port of the reservoir. Spoken the other way around for the sake of clarity, the fluid needs a moment to allow any aeration / foaming to float to the top and dissipate before being fed back to the PS pump. I will not "name names", but some of the larger highly vaunted companies out there produce these very good looking reservoirs, BUT zero - zip - zilch internal engineering, just a storage can. This then of course leads to PS system noise, possibly even failure, as aerated PS fluid will chatter the PS pump vanes leading to pump damage. One company even states that its PS pump is not compatible with hydroboost, when actually it is only a cover up for their poorly designed remote reservoir. Take this same company's front drive arrangement, remove their remote reservoir and replace it with say a Turn One or other properly designed reservoir and Presto! The system now runs just fine - go figure. They know it, but they aren't willing to do anything to improve their design. It sure is a shame to remove such a good looking reservoir from their front drive arrangement, but it just doesn't work properly.
Without going too far into PS reservoir design nuances, you really need two things:
Capacity, so that the returning fluid has a moment to dissipate any aeration (referred to as fluid dwell time). Would you put a 3 quart oil pan on your engine - um, no. Most all automotive enthusiasts know that you would instead install an oil pan with increased capacity. Same goes for the PS reservoir - the more capacity, the longer the fluid dwell time before it gets fed back into the PS pump.
Baffling, so that returning fluid is taken to the farthest possible point of the reservoir before being sucked back into the PS pump. This simply gives any aeration a chance to rise to the top. Even a standard engine oil pan still makes a good basic comparison, as it has some internal baffling to keep "windage whipped" oil from getting to the oil pump pickup before it has a chance to calm down a bit.
So when looking at a PS reservoir for your build, you can count on most OEM style PS pump reservoirs to have "million dollar engineering" behind what may just look like a basic holding tank. Take a look inside or cut one open and you will see baffling and flow diverters strategically placed. You will usually be fine running a factory pump with a matched reservoir. If looking at an aftermarket reservoir, make sure it has ample capacity and proper technology inside of it. Ken's whirring pump noise would have had most chasing the pump around, when it actually wan't the pump's fault at all, instead being the reservoir feeding it. One other point of mention is that most all OEM remote reservoirs have an average of a 5/8" inner diameter feed to the pump. -8 AN is a major culprit here, as the inner diameter is woefully inadequate, so make certain that you are looking at -10 AN. Even then, you may have to run some of these -10 adapters and fittings we have seen through a drill press if possible if you see the inner diameters are bottlenecked down too small. Last, but not least, you want to keep your distance between a remote reservoir and the pump as short and as straight as possible. Every harsh turn a fluid of most any sort takes is a restriction to flow...
Ok, of my soap box now! We just get sooooo many tech calls regarding this...
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
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