David's 2001 Civic EV (80-100 mile range; 65+ MPH; 8 second 0-60)

[darcane]

Originally Posted by TheSGC

Tho, I think power steering is on the checklist for this summer.

Any particular reason?

I've disabled the power steering on my Civic. The only time I notice is in parking lots. Granted, it does require some effort then.

Some guys with disabled steering will cut the power steering lines near the rack, T them together, and the third leg will vent to atmosphere. This is supposed to reduce steering effort since you aren't trying to push the fluid around in a closed system.

I don't think I'll bother since I hardly notice.

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by darcane

Any particular reason?

I've disabled the power steering on my Civic. The only time I notice is in parking lots. Granted, it does require some effort then.

Some guys with disabled steering will cut the power steering lines near the rack, T them together, and the third leg will vent to atmosphere. This is supposed to reduce steering effort since you aren't trying to push the fluid around in a closed system.

I don't think I'll bother since I hardly notice.

The parking lots I deal with are very tiny so it takes a lot of effort. I'm not in a rush, right now I can't find a power steering pump for less than $600. If I can find a MR2 pump from under $100 I'll do it, but it's not a huge priority.

[Blue Angel]

With some solenoid valves and a little creativity you could have the electric pump turn on below certain speeds (like 3 MPH), and bypass the pump when it's off. Not sure if it's feasible or not, just thinking out loud.

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by Blue Angel

With some solenoid valves and a little creativity you could have the electric pump turn on below certain speeds (like 3 MPH), and bypass the pump when it's off. Not sure if it's feasible or not, just thinking out loud.

One of the mechanics at the Honda dealer gave me an idea. He said I should swap in a power steering rack from a Civic Si since it is already electric power steering. According to him it should bolt right up to it.

[Topdawg_135]

I don't know if the Si's rack would work but I've been thinking about swapping the 03-05 hybrid rack into mine. I don't think it would be all that hard to do but I would make sure that you have the correct EPS controller for the rack. I hear that there is a difference in those with VINs thru 159 and after 160.

If you do any EOC though I would just go with a manual rack. Unless someone has figured out a way to stop that nasty 15 second delay that some of the guys on here have experienced.

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by Topdawg_135

I don't know if the Si's rack would work but I've been thinking about swapping the 03-05 hybrid rack into mine. I don't think it would be all that hard to do but I would make sure that you have the correct EPS controller for the rack. I hear that there is a difference in those with VINs thru 159 and after 160.

If you do any EOC though I would just go with a manual rack. Unless someone has figured out a way to stop that nasty 15 second delay that some of the guys on here have experienced.

I thought about a manual rack, but for now its fine. The power steering will really be for others in my family.

Last night on my way home my heater crapped out on me. I've been having some problems with cheap relays and it appears that the heater did not turn off for a few minutes when the heater valve was partially closed. There was also a bit of air in the line which caused the element to burn out in the minute or two when the relay failed to turn off.

So I've taken this opportunity to upgrade it from a 1500 watt unit to a 2000 watt unit to gain more heat. This time I will make sure the system is filled and bled, and I will be replacing a few relays.

[RedDevil]

The electric power steering unit on my wife's Hyundai I10 died last summer; actually it was a faulty sensor, working fine on startup it typically gave up just when turning into a tight corner; led to a couple of hairy situations on the road...
The sensor wasn't available anywhere in Europe so it was in backorder for weeks; finally the dealership replaced the entire steering column from a new I10 from their showroom just to get us going again... +1 for the dealership, -99 for Hyundai.

Anyway in the meantime, as my wife (who is tiny) found the car undriveable, I raised the front tires pressure by .5 bar (+7 PSI); this literally halved the force needed to steer it. After that she could drive it again. It failed less often and even when it did it was manageable.

I once did the same on my front heavy Golf II Diesel. Sadly it had bad cheapo tires and met its end being cut and outbraked by some lease car pig. The collision was no more than a gentle kiss; but the steel parts on the 19 year old car had turned to rust, so the paint was all that was left of the crumple zone's strength. The headlights were facing each other. A sad sight
Straightened the body rust panels with my bare hands to get going again; yet went straight on to buy something remotely safe.

Don't mind the power steering, get a set of top quality tires and inflate them to the max.

[gone7]

Does the liquid heater you use work better than just an all electric heater? Does it save money somehow?

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by ACEV

Does the liquid heater you use work better than just an all electric heater? Does it save money somehow?

The liquid heater is much easier to install in my Civic. If I wanted to install a ceramic heater I would have to pull out my entire dash, and that is something I do not want to ever do.

My new heater element arrived today so tomorrow it goes in. These past two days it has been snowing like crazy, but tomorrow it's going to be sunny and 45F+ out.

[hondaguy72]

Pulling the dash is way easier than you think. Two hours max to get to the core. Just sayin.