Quote:
Originally Posted by bennelson
A bypass for power steering? Sounds like a cool idea!
A few weeks ago, I fixed my gas laundry dryer. The problem was the coil that electronically opens and closes the gas valve.
Couldn't a similar electronic valve be used to open and close a bypass for power-steering?
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Bennelson,
Electric / hydraulic p/s units use exactly this method to achieve the result and a small processor attached to the steering column works out when the power is needed and how much.
As an aside the numbers from component supplier ZF (a main player in this area) suggest the fuel used just for conventional hydraulic p/s from a belt driven pump is around 0.5 litre/100 klms. The range varies depending on the application from about 0.2 to about 0.7.
Car makers would rather give up their first born than part with this sort of info in most cases.
Full electric systems draw about 35 amps at 12 Volts at full demand as a comparison.
Pete.