From mechanical to electrical power steering.

Shortly after (the very next day) i published my entry about those easy 9 things you can do for your m52, my steering pump suddenly start to moan REALLY bad, few hours later i had to throttle up to 3k rmps to gain some pressure so i can steer easily on place. All the posible symptoms of dying power steering pump.

Now, casual people would just replace their bad pump with new/used one, but there is never too late to bring back some extra hps to the rear wheels.Few months ago i was reading an article over the web about a guy, who moved from mechanical to electrical pump on his jdm car and he did some measurements. Dyno with a mechanical (before) and a dyno with an electrical (after). Results were pretty impressive. As far as i can remember idling with mechanical one kills 7 hp and 21 on full steering lock ( WHOA ! Imagine that on a 75 hp hatchback ), due to alternator load values with an electrical losts were 0.25 hp on idle and 0.75 on steering lock ( i shit you not, try to google “nissan electrical power steering conversion” or something similar )

So remembering that facts i drove straight to the nearest junk yard (pump moaning for a background) in search of a power steering pump. Electrical one. I didn’t had a clue what brands/models/years are supplied with such a thing, so i just started randomly popping hoods looking for something similar to a starter motor with hoses whatsoever. There was just one single car having it (peugeot 106 1.1l 96′) and i bought it )the pump, not the car) . When i get back home i had few things bugging my peace. What would be the max pressure (current was 130 bars) , what relay would i need for installing it, what would i have to modify to fit it. While i was drawing the effort/satisfaction chart on my mind, i fell asleep…

On the other day I was really excited about the whole idea so I started working on It right after my shift (TGIF). I knew pump have to be placed flat so I found just the right place for it on one of our donors ( just under the servo unit) , since I had to disassemble lot of things on my car to get there ( Ain’t nobody got time for this –  I was excited, remember ? ) .

Then I filled it with dextron 3 and tested it on a battery, I was expecting loud noises, but it was quiet as a windscreen washer motor. *Mlem*
So what I got. The pump.

Brand new brake fluid reservoir from a truck (the original from peugeot was missing). White. So it can match perfectly the red ATF, allowing me to clearly observe the fluid level.

And then It hit me. Do you know what’s best about that electrical stuff ? You can switch it on and off. So I looked for something bmw oem and dig that old style e28 “poverty spec” fog lights switch which was the perfect on/off button for the purpose.  You would be happier with 7 more hp on drag race than with a easy steering.  Never the less the newer cars got some pew-pew things that makes steering heavier after certain speeds. On my case, switching off the pump on a highway could grant me that … and some fuel economy (said no boy racer ever) .

Then I remembered I had that blank button on my heater control where normally is positioned the a/c  switch.  And it seems the right spot to fit the “Power steering button”.

Then I thought about what belt is required to delete the mechanical pump. Had a look on my bay and realized it isn’t quite possible. Buying shorter belt is just the easiest part. The more confusing thing was the new belt angle after removing the pump.  (The red line). Most likely the belt will rub on itself. Scheiße.

Then I thought about installing new tensioner which will add some more distance. Then it hit me again. Tensioners are nothing more than a pulley and bearing. Hidraulic pump without the internals that actually generates pressure is the same thing. Pulley and a bearing. Drag would be the same (well almost …) no matter if I use this one or fit another tensioner.  So I took out my old pump and disassemble it.

Removed all the “important stuff”

At this point i noticed some excessive wear  which actually killed the pump.

Then I realized something good. The feed and return line outlets  on the electrical pump was exactly the same as those on the mechanical one. Plug and play much.

Got everything back and tapped the openings.So basically my dead pump become sort of a tensioner, allowing me to use the same belt and saving me time of “inventing” and “test-fitting”stuff.

Found that brand new gutter bracket at my “Keep-it-for-later stash” and it turned out it was perfect.

The pump got two solid rubber legs, so what i needed was something which can pull it to the chassis so it can lay on those legs firmly.

The next challenge was mounting the pump. Now as a man who really don’t want to poke holes into his car’s chassis i got really lucky. There was a small hole where i slipped this clip.

And then found this buffer mount.

Done.

Bolted everything on.

I used another clip and scrappy bracket from something and installed the expansion tank.

Being “the excited me” again, fitted the intake swiftly and went out for a test, using power cables from the battery to the pump.
No relay, no fuse, no wiring … #yolo

The steering was marvelous. RPMS doesn’t drop anymore. alternator load was less than expected.
Google said this pump is originally working with 45A relay, and 6mm² cable. I went with 70A relay ( made in china probably, so lets say the real value is something arround 50 ) and 40A fuse.

By the end of the day everything was wired and working. Being able to switch on and off my power steering pump was something new for me so i played with the button a bit imaging different situations 🙂 .  I made up everything really fast, so let’s just say it’s a test mode. If this setup survive till the winter, I will do better detailing for sure.