Dodge Repair: power steering dodge caravan 3.3v 2000 sport

Question
Hi I received your email on procedure of how to install power steering pump since it gets hard after car warms up i had to change the pump again at pep boys so this is my 4th pump in a month.I have the same problem while car is cold it is smooth to drive but once it heats up it is way to hard to steer. My question is ..i saw on a manual book in pep boys that my car has an oil cooler for power steering but when mecanic checks my caravan it doesnt have it so i want to know if this may be the problem im having with my caravan ,and if its suppose to have that since once car heats the pressure hose gets way too hot, burns your fingers. If it does need it can you send me a picture of it and procedure and if it doesnt well is it that i may need an original pump instead of replacements from store.

Answer
Hi Ivet,
I have the '98,'02 and '04 manuals but not the '00. In '98 there is no cooler, but in '02 and '04 a small cooler was included as part of the steering gear proper. I suggest that you go to a dealer parts department and ask whether there is an oil cooler in the '00 and was it used on the 3.3L model and was it possibly an option. The cooler has an input and output hose but the picture in the manual doesn't show the other ends of those hoses but I would believe there are ports for them built-in to the steering gear. The cooler box itself is mechanically mounted to the frame immediately above the gear so it needs to be unbolted from the frame if you change out the steering gear. It doesn't appear to be attached directly in anyway to the pump. Perhaps you do have one but the mechanic didn't see it. The other aspect of cooling that I see is a 'heat shield' that is to cover some of the hoses, but again I am not certain about whether it is used in the '00 left hand drive model (it is shown in the right hand drive model figure that I will send to you) so again that would be a question for the dealer parts counter.
I will copy the picture from the '04 manual that shows the cooler, and also the picture that purports to show the shield but it isn't very clearly shown, and attach those to an email that I will send to you tomorrow. If you find you do have the cooler, then perhaps if you remove the hoses you will find that it is plugged up and then can be cleaned out.
Congratulations on discovering that possibility for what is the problem. I hope this will help end the problem.
Roland