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Disabling Power Steering
scootz - 8/3/12 at 02:09 PM

Is it simply a case of junking the pump, lines and reservoir... getting residual fluid out of the rack... adding grease... then sealing the in / out ports on the rack???

blakep82 - 8/3/12 at 02:15 PM

if its a belt driven pump, just remove the belt (fit a shorter one that doesn't include the pump)
think you still need to keep all the oils and routed the same i think. I asked about this on another forum years ago.
wouldn't say its a great idea though... steering will be heavier than a manual rack i think

and of course, as loggyboy says below vv

[Edited on 8/3/12 by blakep82]

loggyboy - 8/3/12 at 02:16 PM

PAS rack wont pass an MOT even if its seal off.

MikeRJ - 8/3/12 at 02:23 PM

Not a great idea. The spool valve in a PAS rack operates on the twist induced in a slim torsion bar by the driver applying force to the steering wheel. This force is counteracted by the hydraulics moving the rack. Without the hydraulics you are essentially connecting the steering wheel to the rack by a springy metal shaft.

scootz - 8/3/12 at 02:30 PM

Cheers fellas!

Bare - 8/3/12 at 04:39 PM

Besides All of the above. Have you ever tried steering when the rack is de-powered?
It's incredibly (unusably imo) heavy.

[Edited on 8/3/12 by Bare]

rj - 8/3/12 at 05:03 PM

I had a stage rally Nova, i fitted a 309GTI power rack- engine driven pump (took ages to adapt it to fit, but worth it, 309GTI steering is perfect, lots of feel) the ram was external to the rack so on some events I disconected the pump drive belt, and disconected the ram from the rack, the steering felt fine in this set up. I knew that steering was via a springy shaft but I couldnt feel the effects of said springy shaft. Un assisted the steering was a fair bit heavier that powered, but it was alight car so not a major issue

Not Anumber - 15/3/12 at 04:42 PM

MK use cut down Sierra racks, i'm presuming most of these will have started life as power racks and just been banked off so it must be practical to do without making the steering feel dead or too heavy otherwise they'd have stuck with mark 1/ 2 Escort racks.

phelpsa - 15/3/12 at 04:52 PM

Ran a blanked off power steering rack on my 205 and it was fine. The spring in the rack on most road cars is considerably stiffer than the column it attaches to, barely noticeable