Disconnecting PS Pump Belt

[llll1l1ll]

'88 325is here.

My power steering works great. Really. It's perfect.

However, I truly enjoy the feel of a car without power steering, even though the E30 is so well balanced that the power steering is hardly ever interefering.

I was wondering what the consequences would be if I were to disconnect the power steering pump on a power steering rack. Would my rack become unlubricated? I figure some fluid still hangs out down there. Would my rack die?

Would I die?

Best,

Pete

[Philo]

If you want to rid the car of the PS you'll need to disconnect the v-belt and find a way to loop the inlet and outlet of the rack. Either banjo bolts on PS hoses or buy a PS delete block from "Silence." Parking is a bit rough, but you will get use to it. Leave a small amount of ATF fluid in the rack for lubrication. The rack may incur seal damage due to the lack of PS, but E30 racks are cheap and easy to come by.

There are many discussions on this subject. Next time try to search a bit. You've been here long enough to know that.

[jlevie]

You can simply remove the belt and see how you like the way the car behaves. I find that the lack of power steering is an improvement on a track car, but a bit of a pain in street driving (especially parking). The rack does need fluid for lubrication and my solution to deleting the pump is to connect both the inlet and outlet of the rack to the reservoir using the existing hoses. That provides a supply of fluid that can be checked and expansion room for the fluid as the rack heats up.

[llll1l1ll]

That was my idea...

[Sagaris]

[llll1l1ll]

lol it's not like I've never driven an E30 with no power steering. My old shitbox red one didn't have it and I did just fine parking.

I'm probably getting to Tim Allen-y with my car, so I'll probably end up not doing anything.

[Philo]

Do it. It feels much better to (actually) drive a real car.

[jasonsnoddy]

Do it. It feels much better to (actually) drive a real car.

yeah, fuck fake cars.

[llll1l1ll]

yeah, fuck fake cars.

i lol'd

Anyway, I'll see about doing it. Like I said, I don't want to get too Tim Allen-y and then have everything blow up in my face.

[thebornotaku]

Whatever you do, make sure the rack can still get lubrication without the pump impeding the flow.

I don't know about E30s but I'm assuming the general principles don't differ too much from my power rack and pinion setup -- I ran my rack for probably 9 months with no belt on the pump, and the rack gave out almost completely. Tons of play, fluid coming out was nasty and burned and had metal flakes in it. All no bueno.

Seems like the pretty popular thing to do with Volvos is loop the feed and return lines on the rack, though what'shisname suggesting you leave the fluid res in the system is pretty clever -- then you can bleed the rack, make sure the fluid level is good and the fluid isn't fouled, etc.

If you've got another car, you could even just go ahead and pull out your power steering pump, and see about getting custom hoses to run from the rack to the fluid reservoir. Aircraft/helicopter supply shops as well as race car parts shops should be able to make you any hose to spec, with any connectors on the ends.

[Philo]

Whatever you do, make sure the rack can still get lubrication without the pump impeding the flow.

I don't know about E30s but I'm assuming the general principles don't differ too much from my power rack and pinion setup -- I ran my rack for probably 9 months with no belt on the pump, and the rack gave out almost completely. Tons of play, fluid coming out was nasty and burned and had metal flakes in it. All no bueno.

Seems like the pretty popular thing to do with Volvos is loop the feed and return lines on the rack, though what'shisname suggesting you leave the fluid res in the system is pretty clever -- then you can bleed the rack, make sure the fluid level is good and the fluid isn't fouled, etc.

If you've got another car, you could even just go ahead and pull out your power steering pump, and see about getting custom hoses to run from the rack to the fluid reservoir. Aircraft/helicopter supply shops as well as race car parts shops should be able to make you any hose to spec, with any connectors on the ends.

That's because you didn't do it correctly. Simply removing the belt is not the way to delete the PS. You need to remove almost all of the fluid from the rack and loop the inlet to the outlet. This way a small amount of fluid can flow through the rack lubricating it. With too much fluid you don't allow for expansion in the rack due to movement and heat. This wears the seals prematurely and makes it more difficult to turn the wheel.