Power Steering Conundrum
Discussion
Hi all!
I'm having a few issues with my power steering pump and would like to hear some opinions on what to do.. I run a supercharger system on my car, so the pump is relocated lower in the car, rather close to the NS exhaust manifold. The oil reservoir is up where the throttle body would be on the standard plenum positon (it's reversed for the SC cars), and I have the oil pipework running down the front of the engine beside the water pump to the pump, and then from the rack round past the NS wheel arch, round the bottom of the radiator to the rack, then from the rack back around the front of the car the same route as the feed, back up the front of the engine to the reservoir. There are no kinks in the pipe that I can see and the reservoir is nice and high up so should give a good head to feed the pump.
It all works fine until the engine gets really hot in traffic or after giving it the beans. when the car is hot, the pump starts to groan when I turn the wheel, which usually would be a sign of a poor oil feed or there not being enough oil in the system. Except the reservoir is full and the feed seems good. Could it be that the oil is getting too hot perhaps? What would be the best way to tackle this problem?
I'm half tempted to pull it all out and replace the whole lot with a Scooby rack and electric pump but maybe not for a little while!
I'm having a few issues with my power steering pump and would like to hear some opinions on what to do.. I run a supercharger system on my car, so the pump is relocated lower in the car, rather close to the NS exhaust manifold. The oil reservoir is up where the throttle body would be on the standard plenum positon (it's reversed for the SC cars), and I have the oil pipework running down the front of the engine beside the water pump to the pump, and then from the rack round past the NS wheel arch, round the bottom of the radiator to the rack, then from the rack back around the front of the car the same route as the feed, back up the front of the engine to the reservoir. There are no kinks in the pipe that I can see and the reservoir is nice and high up so should give a good head to feed the pump.
It all works fine until the engine gets really hot in traffic or after giving it the beans. when the car is hot, the pump starts to groan when I turn the wheel, which usually would be a sign of a poor oil feed or there not being enough oil in the system. Except the reservoir is full and the feed seems good. Could it be that the oil is getting too hot perhaps? What would be the best way to tackle this problem?
I'm half tempted to pull it all out and replace the whole lot with a Scooby rack and electric pump but maybe not for a little while!
Bluebottle said:
Had similar issue with mine Nick, pump would wine and groan after spirited runs etc. after i goosed a 2nd pump i decided to do something about it...as its and absolute arse to remove with a rotrex in the way.
In my case i think partly due to reservoir being to low on the chassis rail in front of radiator, so i modified the bracket to raise the bottle as high is i could in that same location (Griff bonnet restricts that) but it did stop the pump cavitating air bubbles. But it was still over heating the fluid (very quickly turning grey). So i fitted a slimline PAS cooling radiator i bought from summit racing (couldn't find any in the uk small enough) and the problem has completely gone.
https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/der-12200/o...
Hamish thanks for the message, that looks like a really neat little solution... I'll get one of these sent over as I think it may be easier to fit neatly than the Mondeo one but we'll see. Glad to hear that it's easily solved!In my case i think partly due to reservoir being to low on the chassis rail in front of radiator, so i modified the bracket to raise the bottle as high is i could in that same location (Griff bonnet restricts that) but it did stop the pump cavitating air bubbles. But it was still over heating the fluid (very quickly turning grey). So i fitted a slimline PAS cooling radiator i bought from summit racing (couldn't find any in the uk small enough) and the problem has completely gone.
https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/der-12200/o...
Steve_D said:
It's all very well finding and fitting a cooler but would it not be better to stop it getting hot in the first place?
Steve
I'm hoping to do both, but with the location of the pump and small volume of oil in the system, it's never going to be easy to keep it where I want it. I'll sheild the pump and possibly sleeve or move the pipework, but a cooler will ensure that things never run away.Steve
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