XT6 electric p/s pump in an SVX? [Archive] - The Subaru SVX World Network

sicksubie

03-05-2007, 03:38 PM

I was just reading some off roading boards and was surprised to see a jeep that had 4 wheel steering put in and was using a XT-6 electric power steering pump to run the rear end. All he had done was installed an on and off switch in the cab of the jeep. How would this go for an SVX? One less thing for the motor to spin and with my battery in the trunk now I have a nice spot to put it in the front driver side corner of the engine bay.

benebob

03-05-2007, 05:33 PM

You just may see one in an SVX at Reading if you make it down.:D We've been toying around with the concept for a while but just haven't had time to do the fab work yet. Its a great system with nice feel on the XT so should translate nicely.

sicksubie

03-05-2007, 05:37 PM

I have never seen one actually. What does it look like, how big is it, and how does it mount? Like I said, I have a nice open spot where my battery used to be.
Reading, (sigh)........ I would kill to go, but work and school won't allow. I graduate a semester early this Dec. and will try to make it to Reading in 2008.

NikFu S.

03-05-2007, 06:30 PM

Straight outta Huck's locker (did an image search)..

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/huck369/3563.jpg

It's the gray cylinder near the firewall, behind the intake hose. Some of them are tinged green. To the right is a green connector, which connects to that black round thing to it's left, which is some kind of relay (or something) and plays some role in it's function.

dynomatt

03-05-2007, 07:52 PM

A lot of newer cars also come with electric power steering...Toyota MR2's come to mind.

Matt

huck369

03-05-2007, 08:18 PM

A lot of newer cars also come with electric power steering...Toyota MR2's come to mind.

Matt

As do some Honda's....

I like this picture better :)
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/huck369/36592.jpg

sicksubie

03-05-2007, 09:04 PM

which cylinder shaped thing? Is it bolted to the firewall?

NikFu S.

03-05-2007, 11:57 PM

The one going lengthwise right to left across the top of the firewall.

I must be tired because I did not notice the difference between the two pics after the first look. g_g

sicksubie

03-06-2007, 12:18 AM

sicksubie

03-06-2007, 12:48 AM

I just found a very thorough write up from a guy who installed a 1992 MR2 Turbo power steering pump in his Jeep. He had everything from the wiring diagrams to how he mounted it. After reading the whole article I am going to call junk yards and see what I come up with. It seems very straight-forward the only thing that may be an issue is the draw. It draws about 75amp when the steering wheel is at lock. Any ideas if this will be a problem?

Tiamat-red

03-06-2007, 03:01 PM

Hmmm this sounds like an interesting mod.
But 75 amps sounds like a lot when the alternators are 95 to begin with.
I suppose the main concern is voltage and not current but would my 15 year old alternator take it?
The headlights already dim momentarily when I hit the brakes.
And my plug in cig lighter voltmeter, of questionable quality, already goes from 11v-13v while driving.

But what is involved in this?
Do both of the hoses bolt up?
Are we just talking about fabbing mounting brackets, and running some wires?
Or are there more serious plumbing issues?
My p/s system already leaks so I wouldn't mind taking my chances there.:rolleyes:
I assume the benefit to this would be the loss of parasitic drag on the crank?
I'm already sans-A/C system. And the lack of a P/S pulley would make it easier to explain to my wife why I would NEED to replace it with a supercharger pulley.:D

P.S. I wish I could just swap some pop-up headlights onto my EG33.
Instead of swapping the rest of the XT-6 onto it as well.:cool:

sicksubie

03-06-2007, 03:09 PM

From what I have read so far it sounds like you simply run the P/S lines to the MR2 pump (some people have used the MR2 pump in conjunction with a similar year celica reservoir, but I imagine that this is flexible) then wire it according to the diagram that I have. I'll put it in the next post.

Tiamat red, you are pretty close, if this is something you want to do simultaneuosly let me know.

sicksubie

03-06-2007, 03:12 PM

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/facagoalie/PSwiringdiagram.png
After looking in the engine bay again I am thinking that it might be better to try to fit the pump in the back pass. corner. There appears to be a good spot for it there.

sicksubie

03-06-2007, 03:17 PM

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/facagoalie/celicareservoir.jpghttp://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/facagoalie/celicareservoir2.jpghttp://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/facagoalie/MR2pump.jpghttp://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/facagoalie/mr2pump3.jpghttp://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/facagoalie/mr2pump2.jpg
The first two are pics of the celica reservoir and the last three are the MR2 pump
I have a smaller pulley that I can put on my alternator would that help alleviate the additional draw that this pump would put on the system?

benebob

03-06-2007, 04:14 PM

I'm gonna go for this.... It should make for a good weekend project... Where would the best place be to get one? I checked ebay and found nothing and I did a google search but every car parts place under the sun came up.

Might want to go for one out of another car like the Saturn Ion which is very easy to source parts from then an XT6. XT6s are quite rare anymore and do require special sauce ($25 liquid gold) to run 'em. We have enough parts around and are familiar enough with 'em to warrant sticking with it between Dave and I. Have rebuilt mine 2-3 times with varying success.

Not sure why it would draw 75 amps as the XT6 ps pump doesn't draw nearly that I don't think. My guess is they didn't use the brain for the MR2 pump which regulates power going to it.

As for the smaller pulley that won't help as you can only make as much power as your regulator allows and uping it puts stress on the wiring.

If you really want an XT6 set up check out www.car-part.com for yards that would have it but you'll want to go yank the stuff yourself to make sure you get everything you'd need. My guess is
1. Hoses
2. Pump
3. Bracket on the firewall
4. black box brain.

huck369

03-06-2007, 05:36 PM

It only draws 75 amp when held at full lock...basically hydro-locking the pump, under normal driving it would never draw more than around 20 amps...
Holding any PS pump, belt driven
or electric at full lock is REALLY hard on the pump...and there is really no reason to ever have to anyway.

sicksubie

03-06-2007, 05:56 PM

eeesh.... There is one MR2 P/S pump on ebay for 200 plus 30 for shipping. Any other cars some to mind?

New For Sale: 1 perfect power steering pump from a 1992 SVX $230;) :p

Tiamat-red

03-06-2007, 06:09 PM

When I checked car-parts.com earlier they had one from an xt-6 for $40
Dunno if it works, or is complete...

If the main reason for doing this is to free up some power from drag how much in theory are we talkin here?

Most of my planned time/money on mods for this year is alotted to suspension.
But I always like learning from the work of others.:D

benebob

03-06-2007, 08:04 PM

You gain a few horsepower. I think we gained .2 seconds by deleting p/s on the 1/4 at grassroots. Somewhat noticable freer revs when my PS blew a leak at the dragon this past summer.

Sick if you read my post I gave you suggestions on ones to look for but I guess that wasn't important.;) Remember $25ish for a quart of fluid if you can still get it as there was only a couple bottles left in the US last time I saw. You'd definately need more than the pump which is why I said figure out who has an XT6 locally from car-part.com and go from there.

BTW I've had mine locked and the current drop isn't even noticable on the voltmeter of my 6. Most notice you get is when you turn the wheel slightly while not moving. 75amps seems like a lot based on the wiring that is there!

sicksubie

03-06-2007, 09:45 PM

Sick if you read my post I gave you suggestions on ones to look for but I guess that wasn't important.;) Remember $25ish for a quart of fluid if you can still get it as there was only a couple bottles left in the US last time I saw. You'd definately need more than the pump which is why I said figure out who has an XT6 locally from car-part.com and go from there.
Thanks.... I think that I may go the MR2 route, but I will look for others and if anything pops up I will grab it.
This really took .2 off os your 1/4 though? That would be pretty good for less than a couple hundred bucks. Plus I want to see if after this if I can move the alternator to the original P/S location (I'm not ready to give up AC just yet). Doing this will clear up the middle for a S/C snout:eek: :D

huck369

03-07-2007, 05:09 AM

Thanks.... I think that I may go the MR2 route, but I will look for others and if anything pops up I will grab it.
This really took .2 off os your 1/4 though? That would be pretty good for less than a couple hundred bucks. Plus I want to see if after this if I can move the alternator to the original P/S location (I'm not ready to give up AC just yet). Doing this will clear up the middle for a S/C snout:eek: :D

The alt. will never fit where the PS pump was....it would fit where the AC pump was though...

The PS Location has a hard water pipe, and the oil pressure sender that is in the way (I looked at doing it for FrankenWedge...it won't go)

benebob

03-07-2007, 06:54 AM

Thanks.... I think that I may go the MR2 route, but I will look for others and if anything pops up I will grab it.
This really took .2 off os your 1/4 though? That would be pretty good for less than a couple hundred bucks. Plus I want to see if after this if I can move the alternator to the original P/S location (I'm not ready to give up AC just yet). Doing this will clear up the middle for a S/C snout:eek: :D

Remember we're running a 14.2 with a stock motor and 4.39 gearing so me guess that any porky pig svx results will be diminished by weight. We got at least a .1 second by disconnecting the o2s:D Its listed on our GRM thread.

sicksubie

03-07-2007, 07:13 AM

benebob

03-07-2007, 08:18 AM

Both of mine could be daily drivers though. Not stripped out race cars. When the day comes and I graduate and I can get a really nice pearlie then the silver will start to have a lot of the "creature comforts" pulled out:D

So could ours if we had street legal tires, lightbulbs in it and a DOT seatbelt. Its actually more legal then most modded street SVXi our there.;) I was just saying you won't see nearly the power gains we did as we simply deleted the belts and ran it (i.e. no alt or ps pump). Biggest problem you'll encounter is lack of speed variable steering which is something I personally wouldn't want on a street car. It'd be like driving a Bel Air at 75mph on the twisties with Power steering.. Not the most confident of steering system and quite twitchy and vague. For a race car its a decent set up as you can make power to the pump variable so with a flick of a switch you can go from 100% power (getting around grid and on and off trailer), 50% power for autoxing and low speed driving and 25% power for track. I think if I remember correctly the XT6 uses something like 5 or 6 sensors to determine the rate at which the pump pushes fluid.

Myxalplyx

03-12-2007, 01:22 AM

Sick,

Everything is not honky-dory (Did I spell that right?) with those power steering motors. They will have to be opened up and cleaned every now and then. The power steering fluid can be expensive to some and the brushes need to be replaced when they are worn. Not a big deal if you like to tinker with your car and these can be done quickly. A bigger deal to someone who just likes to drive, drive, drive after a mod is done. All I'm saying is that it does go bad and just needs a little TLC to get it back going again. Brushes are cheap too.

sicksubie

03-12-2007, 12:13 PM