Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Converting power steering to electric power steering

brucepick · 02-20-2008, 08:32 AM

In my car (3000 lb. Volvo, rear drive) I simply removed the belt. It's a bit heavy to steer at parking speeds but I'm OK with that. My front tires are at 52 psi; I'm sure that at 35-40 psi it would be tougher to steer.

I asked for comments before trying it. Suggestions were to get a manual rack (more of a project than I wanted) and also to 'loop' the p/s hoses. That is, the two hoses from rack to the pump, just connect them together and leave the pump out of the system. I'm sure that would make it easier but I didn't do it.

I did swap in synthetic fluid first because there will be less fluid circulation and after the belt delete the fluid might stay there a long time. The car uses ATF for the p/s system so I used Mobil 1 ATF. Suck out reservoir with turkey baster and replace. Three times, running system to mix fluid in between.

02-20-2008, 08:32 AM	#9 (permalink)
brucepick Hypermiler Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Eastern CT, USA Posts: 920 Lean Burn Civic - '97 Civic HX Team Honda 90 day: 46.83 mpg (US) Thanks: 65 Thanked 60 Times in 43 Posts	In my car (3000 lb. Volvo, rear drive) I simply removed the belt. It's a bit heavy to steer at parking speeds but I'm OK with that. My front tires are at 52 psi; I'm sure that at 35-40 psi it would be tougher to steer. I asked for comments before trying it. Suggestions were to get a manual rack (more of a project than I wanted) and also to 'loop' the p/s hoses. That is, the two hoses from rack to the pump, just connect them together and leave the pump out of the system. I'm sure that would make it easier but I didn't do it. I did swap in synthetic fluid first because there will be less fluid circulation and after the belt delete the fluid might stay there a long time. The car uses ATF for the p/s system so I used Mobil 1 ATF. Suck out reservoir with turkey baster and replace. Three times, running system to mix fluid in between. __________________ Check your tire pressure - keep it up !! We've learned that diet has a closer relationship to cancer than we ever thought. Please see this Wikipedia article on The China Study. Driving Lean Burn '97 Civic HX, lotsa mods by now! '89 Volvo 240 is semi-retired. I did love that car though!