Quick and dirty power steering delete

[1carnut]

I wanted to delete the power steering on my 97 Civic HX. I had read several threads that detailed removing or replacing the fittings at the rack, removing most of the fluid from the rack and then closing the system with a loop and/or breather. I recently did front and rear belly pans and did not want to remove the front pan to do the steering delete. Since I am somewhat snowed in today I thought that I would take a look to see if I could find another way to do the delete. I took the hose off from the fluid reservoir and drained the fluid. I then cut the other rubber hose near where it went into a metal fitting near the pump. This hose has a smaller metal line inside of it so I had to just cut around that and then pull the metal part out of that hose. I raised both front wheels off the ground and turned the wheel from side to side to force some of the fluid out of the rack. If you can, have someone do this for you so that you can catch the fluid as it is forced out. Turn the wheel slowly at first because the fluid can come out fast and go all over. I had a 3/8 X 3/8 ($3) hose barb that I used to join the two hoses together looping the system. I then removed the belt and pump. Since I haven't cleared the snow yet, I haven't been able to test it but I expect it to be very similar to the VX that I used to have that never had power steering. This mod would be somewhat difficult to reverse since i did cut the one hose. I assume that hose could be purchased separately and replaced or that things could be looped differently somewhere else but I thought I would throw this out there. I haven't even done a full tank on the belly pan changes yet so I won't know for sure what gains were from that mod or the steering delete. Plus we now have colder temps and snow on the ground.

[1carnut]

I forgot to mention that another benefit to doing the delete this way is that a breather can be easily added where the two hoses connect if desired. I have only driven about 40 miles since the mod but it appears to have given a decent increase in MPG. I notice that the steering is easier with the system looped and some of the fluid removed from the rack than it was just EOC'ing with everything in place. I will try to quantify the belly pan and power steering delete once I run through a couple tanks.

[2000neon]

That is similar to what I had done on my Neon. I originally just pulled the belt (it was A/C and power steering together on the belt), but the steering was tougher than I liked. So I drained the fluid and looped the lines as well, I didn't add a breather though. It made a pretty big difference having the lines looped.

Overall it was still tougher than the VX, but not too bad at all, and best of all it was free. I did too many changes at one time to quantify the improvement though.

I'm glad to hear it's working out for you, between that and the belly pan it should help quite a bit.

[j12piprius]

I read all the power steering delete threads the last couple of days, looked in the engine bay numerous times to familiarize myself with the parts, and decided to do the delete this morning. My plan was to follow the honda forum diy thread, but got stuck, and THIS thread turned out to be best, quick and easy. Here are the steps as listed above, with my comments for each one.

1) remove the hose from the fluid reservoir and drain the fluid.
Following the other instructions, I drained the fluid before removing the reservoir, which was quite difficult, as there was no room to put anything underneath it for catching the fluid. I finally jammed a container next to the top, removed the line from the pump, and quickly lifted it into the container. This worked, though some of the fluid spilled in the meantime. Had I followed these instructions and removed the reservoir first, there would have been plenty of room to put the container in it's place.

2) cut the other rubber hose near where it goes into a metal fitting near the pump; this hose has a smaller metal line inside of it; cut around that and then pull the metal part out of that hose.
I did this after step #3, finally realizing that these instructions were best for me.

3) raise both front wheels off the ground; turn the wheel from side to side to force fluid out of the rack; turn the wheel slowly at first because the fluid comes out fast; have someone help so you can catch all the fluid.
I did this second, and my little container was able to catch almost all of the fluid, though some of it spilled due to it's precarious position. After this I tried to remove the pump, but was unable to loosen the bolts.

4) use a 3/8 X 3/8 ($3) hose barb to join the two hoses together looping the system.
Finally caught up to this thread, I drove to home depot, got the barb, and will attach the hoses together in the morning.

5) remove the belt and pump.
My mechanic will loosen the bolts tomorrow, and then I'll remove the belt and pump. I've been driving the car in the meantime, and LOVE the steering in it now, much better than before. I'm looking forward to my next trip to test the steering through the mountains, power up hills, acceleration during pulses, and miles per gallon.



The remaining steps from the other thread don't matter to me. I might have someone do the piston loop later on, which might make the steering even easier, though it's really quite fine at this point. Major thank yous to 1carnut for this thread.

[cbaber]

I did the same thing, except I kept the pump and all lines in the car in case I ever wanted to sell it. After getting used to no power steering, you will wonder why these Civics ever came with it in the first place. It also helps to keep the tires at or above 40 PSI.

[j12piprius]

The car has a much better feel for the road, steering through the mountains is much better than it was and the car is more stable.

Power and acceleration are more subtle, but I feel the car has been accelerating much better this past trip than previously.

The biggest change besides steering is that the car is much easier to shift into gear.

My mileage this trip improved quite a bit too, though I think most of that came from the halfway curved bumper mod.

I'm very happy with the quick and easy instructions and the p/s delete being done.

[JMunn55]

I did this exactly the same on my Camry, but the steering feels just as stiff as when I had the pump all connected. Barely any road feel, bad bump steer, and very very stiff steering at any speed (doesn't feel related to the tires at all). Might have to gut the rack, I'm not driving it like this