nice little write up.
ive been driving like that for about a year and i love it.

 

good now vent it by "t"ing into the u hose and then run a hose up to a reserviour(SP?) so it can " breathe" and then its easy to turn and you have a manual rack.

 

nice DIY but it's not a master cylinder, it's a rack and pinion

 

so do u like the worse handling?

 

Sorry about the misuse of terminology. I just looked it up in the Helm's manual and it is referred to as the valve housing. Its all changed now.

BlackasNightLS: I like the handling a lot better personally because I feel more in control. I used to just have the belt off which wasnt very convenient, but this is a very nice upgrade.

Mike

 

but really you should vent the rack it will make it alot easier to turn since you are not fighting the pressure of the air that was trapped inside the rack when ypu looped it.

blackasnightls, it does not casue worse handling, not sure how you came to that conclusion. The removal reduces weight and mproves the feel of the car on the road, ie. the car gives you more feedback.

 

i had my power steering like that for as long as i could remember... recently i added the breather and t and it does give a LOT easier feeling... However i like to drive at very fast speeds and where i live there's a LOT of looong straight a ways i usually find myself maxing out on, and it's a little scary now with the breather on compared to how i had it before (w/out breather)... I can't feel the wheels when they're drifting to the left or right... but as far as track performance and for swift manueverability i have no complaints..

 

You can buy a barb fitting at NAPA for like $2 instead of using a flare tool and hacking up the stock components.

I honestly cant remember the fitting size, but off the top of my head its a 1/4" BPT thread barb fitting.

 

now what about the rest of the steel lines? don't you have to either plug those up or loop them? I remember reading an article about doing this and it required looping two metal lines together (they are lines that are on the steering rack itself).

 

You leave them alone.

 

Ya you dont have to worry about any other metal lines.

Meltman: the only reason I did this is because I went in search of the fittings but couldnt find them anywhere so I decided to create something using stock parts.

 

when i go to the track i would normally just disconnect the ps belt and drive it that way. after having the belt disconnected for a few months my rack would start to squeek when turning. does this mean that fluid is not moving through the steering rack when the pump is disconnected? i though that if i had everything still hooked up that the fluid would keep the rack lubricated. am i wrong in assuming this?


will the reservoire setup yeild this same problem or will the fluid move differently and keep the rack lubricated?

 

when i go to the track i would normally just disconnect the ps belt and drive it that way. after having the belt disconnected for a few months my rack would start to squeek when turning. does this mean that fluid is not moving through the steering rack when the pump is disconnected? i though that if i had everything still hooked up that the fluid would keep the rack lubricated. am i wrong in assuming this?


will the reservoire setup yeild this same problem or will the fluid move differently and keep the rack lubricated?

You're forcing fluid back through the power steering circuit through a non moving pump. Its 1000x easier to turn after you get most of the fluid out and loop the rack like this shows. It gets even easier if you "T" that loop shown and put a breather on it.

The squeak you're hearing is probably the fluid being forced through seals its not supposed to be able to pass.

 

You can buy a barb fitting at NAPA for like $2 instead of using a flare tool and hacking up the stock components.

I honestly cant remember the fitting size, but off the top of my head its a 1/4" BPT thread barb fitting.

the thread size needs to be like 5/16" because 1/4" is way too small and 3/8" was a tad too big, i just removed my PS the other day

 

so how did you guys add a "breather" into the line? pics? more explanation?

 

that rubber line he has looped back into the rack... cut that in the middle... get a barbed "T" fitting... and attach a 3rd hose that leads up to a breather reservior.

 

what did you use as a resevoir breather? i was thinking of getting an extra clutch resevoir??

 

^^ i too am curious what you used for the resevoir breather? the PS resevoir? if so will u need to keep a lil bit of fluid in it to keep the rack lubed?


on #4 instead of cutting the metal line so short where you have to fab up another line, why dont you leave it a little longer and just attatch the U shaped rubber hose to it. It would reduce the amount of work you have to do, and you will not need a flairing tool.. Will this work?

 

The flare on one end is to create a tight connection when you slide the u-tube over it. Then you clamp it after the flare to provide a tight connection.

In regard to the breather, I'm not sure what works. My system is still holding up without a breather and I dont really see the need for one. I like how the steering feels as is so I dont plan on adding a breather.

Dont take this as correct, but I beleive that you could use the PS resevoir as long as you connected a filter to the top of it. All you need to do is add a T-connection at the top of the u-tube and run another tube up to the bottom of the resevoir.

Mike

 

i dont know how you guys think no power steering feels better, it sucks without it!! i had my power steering off for about 4 months and i decided to put it back on and it feels so good and i can handle the car better

 

i dont know how you guys think no power steering feels better, it sucks without it!! i had my power steering off for about 4 months and i decided to put it back on and it feels so good and i can handle the car better

its a matter of personal preference i suppose. Some people prefer manual steering because you feel all direct input to your hands when your tires are slipping/gripping. I used to run the track like this however just disconnecting the PS belt made steering a major chore. So one day I decided to run the road course with power steering. I was actually running faster times however i felt less connected to the road. Even though power steering still allows you to feel certain handling conditions, it is not quite as direct. I am going to do the manual steering rack modification soon . I have driven my friends civic with a manual rack and i like the feel. The weight of it doesn't wear out my arms but you still get all the feedback from the road.

But as people were saying, you won't get a true feeling manual steering rack from a PS rack unless you put a breather on there. With a closed loop you are still pushing against air bubbles and fluid... you need it to flow freely.

 

cool write up, might have to give it a try this spring.

 

Just decided to bring this up for a bit of clarification/further discussion.


Cliff's Notes: Adding an external reservoir to the looped part of the steering rack is a good idea in the long run and will make the steering effort a bit less stiff. You also don't want to have an open vent in the reservoir as this will allow the fluid to oxidize and take on moisture, reducing its effectiveness (similar to brake fluid).


I'm not so sure you're supposed to actually have an open-vented reservoir if you do decide to go with a reservoir. Having a vent at the top will allow the power steering fluid to oxidize and take on moisture in the air, possibly having negative effects on its ability to do its job inside the rack. It's a lot less important because it's not going through a pump anymore, but I still think it's something to think about.

The whole point behind T-ing off the loop and running a line up to a reservoir is so you can make sure that all the lines and the steering rack are filled with power steering fluid at all times, and to make the steering effort a bit better. If you just put a small tube and loop the inlet and outlet on the rack, you'll have air bubbles in there that will be sloshed in with the fluid...so it'll be like constantly having a low fluid level in the rack itself. This could, in the long run, cause a bit of premature wear on the rack.

Ideally, you'd have all the lines full of fluid up into the reservoir, simply to ensure that the rack is always getting all the fluid it needs to stay at good temps and be properly lubricated.

 

Just decided to bring this up for a bit of clarification/further discussion.


Cliff's Notes: Adding an external reservoir to the looped part of the steering rack is a good idea in the long run and will make the steering effort a bit less stiff. You also don't want to have an open vent in the reservoir as this will allow the fluid to oxidize and take on moisture, reducing its effectiveness (similar to brake fluid).


I'm not so sure you're supposed to actually have an open-vented reservoir if you do decide to go with a reservoir. Having a vent at the top will allow the power steering fluid to oxidize and take on moisture in the air, possibly having negative effects on its ability to do its job inside the rack. It's a lot less important because it's not going through a pump anymore, but I still think it's something to think about.

The whole point behind T-ing off the loop and running a line up to a reservoir is so you can make sure that all the lines and the steering rack are filled with power steering fluid at all times, and to make the steering effort a bit better. If you just put a small tube and loop the inlet and outlet on the rack, you'll have air bubbles in there that will be sloshed in with the fluid...so it'll be like constantly having a low fluid level in the rack itself. This could, in the long run, cause a bit of premature wear on the rack.

Ideally, you'd have all the lines full of fluid up into the reservoir, simply to ensure that the rack is always getting all the fluid it needs to stay at good temps and be properly lubricated.

Nope,

if you fill the rack full and turn, it shoots fluid out like a whale coming up for a breath. You leave the rack half full to allow air to move inside and not shoot pressurized fluid out.

The breather is to keep a vacuum or pressure situation from happening inside the rack when you turn.


I never did end up venting mine. Just left it a nice loop.

 

can anyone tell me for sure what size fitting(s) ill need for the loop?