Power steering pump delete

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by Allch Chcar

Unless you swap to a manual rack the power(less) steering rack needs fluid or you'll ruin the bearings. If you just loop the hoses it'll eventually run dry and emit a high pitched squeaking noise. So it needs a small reservoir where you can add PS fluid to keep the rack happy.

Just some info I gleaned.

You don't need to do any of that.
Just unhook the lines, throw the steering lock to lock with the car up on stands, that will dump the extra fluid out, then cap it, loop it or vent it. There will still be plenty of fluid in the rack or steering box. That way you are not trying to push excess fluid around when you turn the wheel.

[300zxrb26dett]

I went one step further and removed the power rack and depowered it. Removed all traces of power steering in the car as well. I can tell you it turns easier then looping the lines or having broken power steering.

I can link to a how-to for it, if anyone is interested, although it pertains to my car and some similar Mazda's but it would give a general idea anyway.

[Allch Chcar]

Originally Posted by Christ

I've never added fluid to a rack (3 of my own cars) after deleting the PS pump. I loop the hoses, and leave whatever fluid is in there, then forget about it. I've also removed the hoses and plugged the ports before.

Many power racks can be de-powered by elminiating the hydraulic seals in them, which cause drag.

I've never heard nor read about bearing wear due to removing the PS pump and not adding fluid until now. Do you have a source that we, as a community, can evaluate?

So long as it doesn't leak then it will be fine. I've had a steering rack wear down from lack of fluid and now the steering wheel will vibrate and shake on smooth road with good tires.

[300zxrb26dett]

^check your inner and outer tie rods. Unlikely you ruined a rack from lack of fluid. Manual racks dont contain fluid and function fine.

[wildfire8]

Originally Posted by 300zxrb26dett

I went one step further and removed the power rack and depowered it. Removed all traces of power steering in the car as well. I can tell you it turns easier then looping the lines or having broken power steering.

I can link to a how-to for it, if anyone is interested, although it pertains to my car and some similar Mazda's but it would give a general idea anyway.

I would like that link please.

[300zxrb26dett]

Here you go:

Club Protege

[Daniel8171986]

I took off the power steering belt, the engine load was with the belt on 23.5-25%, and with the power steering belt off it was around 22.3%-25% got to test and see.

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by 300zxrb26dett

^check your inner and outer tie rods. Unlikely you ruined a rack from lack of fluid. Manual racks dont contain fluid and function fine.

I believe some of the older manual boxes had gear oil in them.

[radioranger]

anyone done this to a 97 or newer escort , mine needs a new pump anyway and all highway miles ,can I just reroute the belt and not damage the rack ? or if necessary remove pump and put on smaller belt biggest question will steering fail if run this way I could fill the rack with synthetic fluid .

[NoD~]

Power Steering racks aren't much different from car to car, especially in the 90's.

Basically, here are your options...

-Keep power steering in tact: Easiest to do, Easiest to steer, worst for MPG, cheapest to do
-Change pulley(ratio): Medium amount of work, Easy to steer, better MPG, medium price to do
-Remove PS Belt: Easy to do, hardest to steer, Good MPG, Likely just as cheap
-Remove PS pump/loop lines: Medium amount of work, medium to steer, Great MPG, Likely just as cheap
-Replace PS rack with Manual rack: Medium-Most amount of work, med-easiest to steer, Great MPG, Most expensive
-Dissect/Rebuild PS Rack: Most amount of work, med-easiest to steer, Great MPG, Possible mild expenses

(MPG goes from Good to Great once you remove the extra weight of the PS system, hence why the improvement.)

There you go. From the least amount of work involved to the most. I have done all but install an actual manual rack (hard to find for my car). I would recommend taking off the belt to see if you like the gains first. If you loop the lines, steering becomes much easier. If you pull apart the rack and remove the piston/properly grease things up in there, it seems pretty easy IMO to steer. Only time it can be tough to steer is a completely dead stop, but it depends on your tires and your weight.

As for the pulley change, there are a few things to note about it. If you can find an underdrive pulley for your car, it will likely reduce the weight of the pulley (rotation mass, replacing heavy cast steel with machined aluminum), but also send less engine power to alt/ps/ac system by rotating those components slower. I run one on nearly every car I own. As long as your pulley isn't required for internal engine balance, you should be ok to do it. I have one on my DD and it only runs the alternator at this point.

Also, there are other benefits of removing the PS system...
-Weight reduction = more MPG (it's probably ~15lbs of pump/lines/fluid reservoir, pending car)
-1 less belt to change/tighten
-1 less fluid to maintain/leak
-Less engine clutter. It's SO much nicer to work on an engine w/o a PS pump, reservoir, and lines in the way!
-Works your arms more. Face it, who's got time for the gym?

As for rack lubrication: I have yet to hear of anybody who got out all the fluid out of the rack by forcing the piston left/right all the way and have failure because of this. Of course, this is assuming you either loop the lines or seal up the system somehow. If you add any fluid at all, you are going to have a much harder time turning because you will be manually forcing that fluid to move to the opposing chamber.

See this diagram: