Power steering rack bypass
 

Is there any mods or tricks to running a power steering rack with out a pump? I would think that there is a seal / piston or something that could be removed or drilled to prevent the rack from pumping fluid when the wheel is turned. I think you can run the rack with the 2 hoses bypassed together but I think an internal mod may work better. ??
Thanks

You can plug it up........ but it is really stiff. No where near as easy to steer as a manual rack.

If you want to get a feel just undo the power steering belt and try to parallel park. :)

I ran my e30 with out the power steering belt for months. It is a pain to paralell park but in those cases I just park up on the sidewalk or leave it out double parked ;)

On the gear/spline piece, there are pressure relief valves that regulate the pressure as the engine/pump speed increase, to my understanding. The top of the spline and the gears below are two separate pieces that can move about 15 degrees from one another. When you go without power, this 15 degrees shows up as sloppiness. You have to take out the lower pin and separate the two and then insert some shims which will eliminate the slop. I have some pictures I took last night while doing this exact thing. I have not reinstalled the rack yet so I cannot give any driving impressions.

948T, I would be very interested in seeing those pics 'cause I've run a power rack without pump/lines for years now and if there's a trick, I'd like to do it.

The power rack is a little quicker than the 'Armstrong' one and if you went to power without power assist from manual you'd feel it right away.

They're high res so I'll have to email them to you. You'll want them high res for the detail. Either way, unfortunately, I'm in a meeting all day. If you pm me an email address, I'll send the information and photos this evening.