Power steering to manual conversion?

[2000mc]

so i swaped out a belt (belt had like 120k on it anyway) and pulley and made my saturn a manual steer. a-b-a seemed like it would be a real PITA, so i just did a little a-a-a-a-b-b-b-b by checking the gallons per hour on my scangauge at either end of my commute, so car at t-stat regulating temp and idling in park for like 10 seconds. with power steering i was typically seeing .29-.31 gph, since removing the p/s im seeing .27-.30gph.
so about .02 gph, or $0.07/hr, or after 430hrs idling it would pay for the belt and pulley... but i'm hoping its worth a bit more when the car is moving.
also think its a bit easier to keep the car in 4th w/ the converter locked than before

[stovie]

I like the idea of having manual steering mostly because my engine has died a few times before and there is a night and day difference from engine on to engine of and it's caught me by surprise a couple times. It would also make EOC much more reasonable with it cause you don't have the steering go super stiff when the engines off so it can help with mpg in that sense, but if your already doing EOC then your fine I guess.

[baldlobo]

Originally Posted by Miller88

There are a few easier things you can do to a Cherokee to get better MPG.

1) Get rid of the mechanical fan on the passenger side and replace it with an electric fan. Taurus electric fans are pretty popular for this

2) 4 hole injector swap - there are direct swaps from certain Neons and some Ford injectors can be used.

There's also the option of using an A/C clutch on the PS pump, I believe someone here did it on a Ranger

the neon injectors are short requiring some modifications; chrysler mini-van 3.3 and 3.8l v6 injectors are the proper height and the proper lb/hr

ps. look for bright green\dark green injectors

[2000mc]

finally completed my conversion to manual steering with a manual gear out of an SL. belt had already been off the pump for some time now. primarily swapping for the steering ratio of the manual gear. the hydrolic gear was about 3 turns lock to lock, while a manual gear is 4 turns. while i didnt really miss the power steering much, parallel parking required alot of effort, and sometimes during low speed maneuvers the steering felt pretty heavy, which becomes more of an issue if the wife ever drives it. now with about 1/3 more leverage, effort is very similar to having p/s at and above 5mph, i used to want 2 hands on the wheel turning up to about 15, now i only really need to up to 5. when stopped... well i guess its about 1/3 easier, but thats going to make parallel parking on a busy street alot nicer to manage.
also checked weight differences.
drained p/s gear w/o outer tie rod ends 14.7lbs
manual gear w/o tie rod ends 12.5lbs
drained pump, reservoir, bracket, mounting bolts, lines 9.4lbs
fuild capacity is supposed to be 28oz
so figuring a little residual fluid in the parts still, i'm guessing the conversion was good for about a 13lb loss, or .00003mpg

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

The weight reduction is only one of the aspects involved in the manual steering conversion, alongside the lower loads on the engine due to the absence of the hydraulic pump. Anyway, the lower maintenance expenses (no hoses or belt to replace, no steering fluid, only some good old grease) also account to decrease the overall vehicle operational cost

Originally Posted by kir_kenix

I would be really surprised if conventional power steering pumps make it to the year 2020, outside of maybe really big trucks and maybe some economy cars.

Electro-hydraulic probably will remain for the big rigs a while, and all-electric will probably become the mainstream for the economy cars. The lighter and more self-contained layout of an all-electric power steering, and the absence of a pump and hoses, are more favorable than retaining the all-hydraulic power steering. It may even become cheaper to manufacture...

[serialk11r]

I think power steering pumps will eat up something like 6hp at a crank speed of 7000rpm, and if you assume the power is proportional to the square of speed or so, at idle it's likely that the pump uses on the order of 100W give or take a few multiples, which is not too bad. EHPS systems draw like 4A idle, which after alternator losses is about 100W as well. However at say 2500rpm, that could be like 500W, which is kind of serious. If I had belt driven power steering and converting to EHPS wasn't really feasible I'd consider doing both an underdrive crank pulley as well as an underdrive PS pulley to slow it down a lot.

If you look at dyno charts before and after underdrive crank pulleys people usually pick up 5-10hp, but if the first 20% underdriving reduces the PS pump's work by 3hp, then another 20% underdriving could possibly halve that again. At cruising rpm you'd be going from ~0.5-1hp down to 0.2hp which is close to what an EHPS system would draw. Downside is steering effort will likely increase in parking lots but I don't mind muscling the wheel a little. I would personally buy a car with manual steering but I understand most people wouldn't.

[P-hack]

Yah the pump is wasteful at speed, where little to no assist is needed. Electric assist is pretty trivial conceptually, though still a bit "plush" for small cars, which themselves are the antithesis of plush. Pwm a solenoid based on steering wheel torque.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by 2000mc

Electrically Powered Steering | TRW Automotive

That sounds interesting. I clicked on the link, but did not see anything about buying it.

[2000mc]

I'm guessing they only sell to oems, link was because they were the only place I'd seen give an actual amount of fuel savings

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

EPS kits are easier to find in Europe, or other markets with a larger share for Euro automakers. I just don't remember any vehicle fitted with an all-electric power steering which could be suitable to a Cherokee-sized rig.

But maybe it would be worth to look an an electro-hydraulic power steering, IIRC it was available in the hybrid versions of the Silverado.