VegasAnthony
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Las Vegas
brent said:
sorry to Hijack richard but im putting a new pump and a 4.5" pulley this week and need to know about this
well how does one do this?
hydro assist steering problem
- Thread starter Goatman
- Start date
sorry to Hijack richard but im putting a new pump and a 4.5" pulley this week and need to know about this
well how does one do this?
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
Well, just to update, after doubling the size of the steering cooler and changing to Red Line synthetic fluid. I just spent three days wheeling in JV, and the steering was better. Much of the time it worked perfectly, no problems turning. If it was worked hard and heated up it was harder to steer, never as hard as it was previously, but not as easy as it should be. It's not perfect by any means, but it does work and I could wheel it this way if I had to. But, the pump whined quite a bit, so I'm back to thinking there is a problem with the pump.
So, now I'm deciding if I want to send the pump back to PSC, or just send it to Tommy Lee for a rebuild. I have a little problem with PSC in that they want all of their higher performance pumps to have a remote reservoir, yet AGR,
Tommy Lee, West Texas Offroad, and Rocklogic all use pumps with the stock resevoir on their hydro assist systems. I'm being cheap and don't want to spend the money for a resevoir, new hoses, and another new serpentine belt if I don't have to.
So, now I'm deciding if I want to send the pump back to PSC, or just send it to Tommy Lee for a rebuild. I have a little problem with PSC in that they want all of their higher performance pumps to have a remote reservoir, yet AGR,
Tommy Lee, West Texas Offroad, and Rocklogic all use pumps with the stock resevoir on their hydro assist systems. I'm being cheap and don't want to spend the money for a resevoir, new hoses, and another new serpentine belt if I don't have to.
I run Full Hydro. The only thing I ever see out of mine is that if I am at dead stand still on a bunch of rocks it gets hard to turn, but once I give it gas it goes easy either way. I don't run a cooler, external reservoir, or upgraded pump. Last weekend before wheeling I filled my reservoir up too much and it split the plastic reservoir where the seam is. Other than that it has nbo probelms. I have around 600.00 in my full hydro setup. I run the PSC double ended ram. The pump could be bad, but could also be bad due to it not pushing any fluid. I do believe I would do a rebuild of the steering box. At that point you could tell if something has got in there. And if the cooler helped it then you replace the seals and hone the box, it should even work better. I am beginning a buggy build myself, and wish I could find a powersteerin g reservoir to replace my stock plastic one.
VegasAnthony
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Las Vegas
Brent sent me this through PM
remove the power steering pressure hose from the pump, there is a fitting that is screwed into the pump that the hose screws into, remove this, I believe it takes a 18mm socket, there will be a spring and maybe a check ball so don't loose them. this piece is the one you need to drill larger, I'm not sure on the size of drill I used, and you may have to do it by trail and error, open the hole up a little at a time put it back together and give it a try, both down the road at speed and in the parking lot, if you get to big, you'll be great in the parking lot, but very touchy down the road. good luck.
remove the power steering pressure hose from the pump, there is a fitting that is screwed into the pump that the hose screws into, remove this, I believe it takes a 18mm socket, there will be a spring and maybe a check ball so don't loose them. this piece is the one you need to drill larger, I'm not sure on the size of drill I used, and you may have to do it by trail and error, open the hole up a little at a time put it back together and give it a try, both down the road at speed and in the parking lot, if you get to big, you'll be great in the parking lot, but very touchy down the road. good luck.
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
Well, after fighting this steering for awhile on our recent trip to Utah I figured out what my problem has been.....or at least, what I strongly suspect my problem has been. My steering box sector shaft was getting very loose, so we switched to a spare box. When we pulled the hydro fittings out of the old box, we saw that one of the fittings is very wrong. While one of the fittings has a normal size hole in it, the other fitting has a very small, like 1/8" hole. Hmmmm, think this restriction could rob some power and create some heat??? Also, my hoses and fittings are size 4 AN and should be 6 AN.
I still have a bad pump, it's whining like crazy much of the time. And, I need to get my box rebuilt now since the sector shaft bushing is wearing out. One of the good things about a box rebuild from one of the better steering companies is that they replace the bronze bushing at the sector shaft with a bearing, which will last much longer and take a lot more abuse.
I anticipate that with a properly rebuilt box, a good pump, loosing that horribly small fitting, and changing to bigger hoses, I should finally have steering that works the way it should. Now, just to get it all done. :repair: :repair:
I still have a bad pump, it's whining like crazy much of the time. And, I need to get my box rebuilt now since the sector shaft bushing is wearing out. One of the good things about a box rebuild from one of the better steering companies is that they replace the bronze bushing at the sector shaft with a bearing, which will last much longer and take a lot more abuse.
I anticipate that with a properly rebuilt box, a good pump, loosing that horribly small fitting, and changing to bigger hoses, I should finally have steering that works the way it should. Now, just to get it all done. :repair: :repair:
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
Thought I'd update this. BTW, my steering is finally working perfectly.
After the last post, I sent my steering box and a spare pump to Lee Mfg to be rebuilt. The box was toast, the sector shaft was cracked and the bore was oversized. So, it was likely that the fluid was blowing past the seals in the box to some degree. I had to virtually get a complete box from Tommy Lee, upping the cost and pushing me closer to what it would be for full hydro, but oh well, I was too far into it at this point and needed to get it done.
Along with the new box and pump, I added a remote resevoir and a filter. Tommy Lee has a nice resevoir and filter setup that you have a choice of using either slip fittings or AN fittings. I went with slip fittings for simplicity and ease of spare parts down the road. The pump was built to accomodate the large 5/8" hose that comes from the resevoir, a slip fitting on both. The filter also uses slip fittings and installs in line, so it went between the cooler and the resevoir. A very nice, and very simple, setup. I also went to AN 6 size hoses going to the ram. So, evertything in the system, including all the hoses, was brand new except the ram.
I got everything installed and did a run to JV. It worked so much better than it did before, but it wasn't perfect. When it worked it worked pretty good, but occasionally it would still get harder to steer when worked hard and the pump would whine sometimes.
When I got back I replaced the 1 5/8" Rocklogic ram with a 1 3/4" PSC ram. I still wondered about the pump, and I ws so damn close to the expense of just going to full hydro, but I figured I had replaced everything except the ram, so I was going to do a new ram before changing anything else.
The ram must have been bad, because now it works. And, with the 4.5" pulley I'm using and the larger 1 3/4" ram the steering kicks ass. Quick and powerful.
Finally!!!!!!
After the last post, I sent my steering box and a spare pump to Lee Mfg to be rebuilt. The box was toast, the sector shaft was cracked and the bore was oversized. So, it was likely that the fluid was blowing past the seals in the box to some degree. I had to virtually get a complete box from Tommy Lee, upping the cost and pushing me closer to what it would be for full hydro, but oh well, I was too far into it at this point and needed to get it done.
Along with the new box and pump, I added a remote resevoir and a filter. Tommy Lee has a nice resevoir and filter setup that you have a choice of using either slip fittings or AN fittings. I went with slip fittings for simplicity and ease of spare parts down the road. The pump was built to accomodate the large 5/8" hose that comes from the resevoir, a slip fitting on both. The filter also uses slip fittings and installs in line, so it went between the cooler and the resevoir. A very nice, and very simple, setup. I also went to AN 6 size hoses going to the ram. So, evertything in the system, including all the hoses, was brand new except the ram.
I got everything installed and did a run to JV. It worked so much better than it did before, but it wasn't perfect. When it worked it worked pretty good, but occasionally it would still get harder to steer when worked hard and the pump would whine sometimes.
When I got back I replaced the 1 5/8" Rocklogic ram with a 1 3/4" PSC ram. I still wondered about the pump, and I ws so damn close to the expense of just going to full hydro, but I figured I had replaced everything except the ram, so I was going to do a new ram before changing anything else.
The ram must have been bad, because now it works. And, with the 4.5" pulley I'm using and the larger 1 3/4" ram the steering kicks ass. Quick and powerful.
Finally!!!!!!
Mosephus
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Duncanville, TX
Good stuff. Thanks for the info!
Ramsey
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Shreveport, LA
Got a part number for that pulley?
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
PS20347
Yeah, right, I just happen to have the part number. Why don't I call them up and get it so I can post if for you, or maybe I'll look it up on their website so you don't have to.
It's the smaller pulley that they sell to increase pump speed at low rpm, can't be that hard to find.
Ramsey
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Shreveport, LA
Was hoping there was something I could pick up locally at a parts store, didnt know it was through psc.
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
Without re-reading my old posts to know what I had said, a little better worded question from you would have let me know how to better answer the question. Yes, it's a PSC pulley, no stock application that I know of, doesn't look like an OEM pulley.
Next time.
Ramsey
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Shreveport, LA
I'll be sure to research more before questioning you 
Gravesdiggerxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Salt Lake City, Utah
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