mr2 power steering pump on supra...

A

alloyguitar

it's legal, i swear...
Mar 30, 2005
570
0
0
36
knoxville, tennessee
A friend of mine has an mr2 that's pretty well destroyed that we're parting out and I'm thinking of retrofitting the electric power steering pump onto my mkiii.

Upon studying the wiring diagrams/dicking around on the internet I've noticed that it's a four-wire style of pump (electric, not belt-driven, for those of you who didn't know...) with a high and low setting, which means that I could have 3 stages of control over my steering system: high, low, and off.

I'm using the 130 amp alternator from the mr2 to compensate for the extra load on the electrical system (since I know someone's going to mention that...) and the pump is designed to provide up to 2000 lbs. of pressure, which is more than plenty to move a supra, as heavy as it is (SINCE I know someone's going to mention the weight difference...)

My question is: has anybody ever done this before and is it worth pulling my camera out to snap some photographs for a writeup?

Here are some links that I'm using as a reference:
http://www.cameronsoftware.com/ev/EV_PowerSteering_Install.html

http://www.driveev.com/jeepev/convpgs/psteer.php

Both of these have to do with converting vehicles to use electric power, but the same concept (turning the wheels in the direction that you need to go...:icon_bigg) still applies...

-Devon Goodspeed
 
Idealsupra

Idealsupra

Supramania Contributor
Mar 31, 2005
2,390
0
0
41
Orlando
www.tampabaysupras.com
Buddafucco;974291 said:
It is cool when people do new and innovative stuff but what benefits are you expecting from this?
Click to expand...


Immediate benefit (all be it not something giant) would be less drag on the rotating assembly since its not belt driven. Could possibly free up a hp or 2.

Will prob look slightly cleaner as well.

Im interested to see what you do up. Take lots of pics :D
 
A

alloyguitar

it's legal, i swear...
Mar 30, 2005
570
0
0
36
knoxville, tennessee
well, cleanliness and HP as ideal mentioned are high on my lists, but I do like the feeling of a spirited drive, and being able to "turn off" the power steering is an idea that I've been toying with a lot since my first supra (which didn't have power steering). I feel that you're more connected with the road that way, and the car reacts the same around every turn (no progressive-ness, if you will).

Let me put it this way, I'm also working on using an electric water pump drive to cut down a bit on the amount that the motor has to turn. I've already removed all of my A/C crap (it's a targa top car, who needs it?), so I just consider this the next logical step.

...Plus it would give me a convenient location to mount my electric drive for my water pump...;-)

Hell, maybe it'll rev a bit faster, too.

I'm going to talk to Steve (guy with mr2) tomorrow and make sure it's alright for me to use said parts, then I'll be in business. Worst case senario I still get my employee discount at Advance Auto, and I could get a reman'ed one with a lifetime replacement for about 160, tax and all. I may end up doing this later anyway, for the warranty.

I'll be sure to take a billion and a half hi-res pictures, though, and do a writeup whenever I'm finished.

-Devon Goodspeed
 
NashMan

NashMan

WTF did he just wright ?
Aug 5, 2005
4,940
17
38
42
Victoria BC
i looked into it came close to installing it but in the end it was heavy bluky and well just not worth the truble of doing it there is other ways of controling you power streeing thou

if you have progives power streeing this can be done wiht reste and heat sink or a control that i have bena thinking on maken for some time

that or swap around some pullies

or there was this idea i was thinking as well for my old car and run a blead vavle
pretty much just drop the persure with controle leak back in the res you choudl do it faily cheep and look clean as well
 
CyFi6

CyFi6

Aliens.
Oct 11, 2007
2,972
0
36
Phoenix
www.google.com
I should have pulled the pump out of my wrecked mr2 and donated it to someone for trials. I don't think having less steering assist really gives you much of a better feel for the road. The wheels might fight your efforts more around turns, but you should get all the input through the steering system with power assist that you would without it.
 
Poodles

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
0
0
42
Fort Worth, TX
not really

The more pressure you have, the less feel you have as the pressure is acting like a dampener.

This is why before they have PPS they had a steering dampener on the rack. They then went to a smaller pulley to increase the pressure to replace it.

If you have it set up like PPS, it won't even be on at highway speeds.

The ONLY time I've had an issue with PPS is when I was doing high speed sweepers, and it took a lot of effort to turn the wheel, but the feel was great, I could feel the limits of the tires pretty well. It's a trade off...
 
A

alloyguitar

it's legal, i swear...
Mar 30, 2005
570
0
0
36
knoxville, tennessee
How would I control progressive steering?

Well, that's a simple question. I don't plan on swapping the whole computer and all that crap, so whenever you feel like doing something stupid (and most likely illegal) switch it to low...or off.

That's enough variation for me.

Nashman: I'm really doing this because I want to be able to completely turn off my power steering, which sounds stupid to most, but it's something I've been toying with for a while. At one point I was going to try and rig an a/c clutch to my power steering pulley...this just seemed like a more intelligent alternative.

Poodles: I don't like progressive steering because, speed depending, it reacts differently in different situations, which bothers me. I'm trying to do away with that when I feel that it would hinder my car's performance, and keep it when it is an advantage to me. It's all about options...
 
Rennat

Rennat

5psi...? haha
Dec 6, 2005
2,844
0
0
Tracy, CA
www.myspace.com
how much does it draw from the alternator? to me it seems that theres a lot more to a supra in general, so would the 130amp alternator be able to handle the electirc water pump, e-fans, headlights, radio, windshield wipers, fog lights... when its a dark rainy night out, you draw a lot from that alternator...

just keep it in mind.

but if it all works out i'd defintaley be interested in doing the same.
 
Last edited:
A

alloyguitar

it's legal, i swear...
Mar 30, 2005
570
0
0
36
knoxville, tennessee
at MOST it draws 80 amps, but that's on the highest output that it can push, which would be like turning the wheels all the way and still trying to turn it.

I'm pretty sure that 130 amps will be sufficient, if not, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

That, and the whole "rainy night" senario doesn't really come into play with this particular car...I don't drive it in the rain...ever. Gt4088=275's sliding all over the place, if you know what I mean, but if it would be a benefit to you, I'll use the alternator tester and multimeter that I have and see that kinds of loads it puts on the charging system in a real life senario.
 
NashMan

NashMan

WTF did he just wright ?
Aug 5, 2005
4,940
17
38
42
Victoria BC
what i mean about controling the pps is i put my car on scope to find out the patten with this controler you can do what ever you want at any speed ect so it pretty cool but i got to get around to maken this thing witch will be pretty neat

as fr the mr2 it just big bulky plus there ois more fulid to push in teh supra vs the mr2 as in the amonte not sure but there is diff

as for the bleeder it really easy way of doing it can be made really cheep and can ajust your streeing to any point you want

this is the for the none pps users can be done cheep
 
Rennat

Rennat

5psi...? haha
Dec 6, 2005
2,844
0
0
Tracy, CA
www.myspace.com
alloyguitar;975007 said:
at MOST it draws 80 amps, but that's on the highest output that it can push, which would be like turning the wheels all the way and still trying to turn it.

I'm pretty sure that 130 amps will be sufficient, if not, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

That, and the whole "rainy night" senario doesn't really come into play with this particular car...I don't drive it in the rain...ever. Gt4088=275's sliding all over the place, if you know what I mean, but if it would be a benefit to you, I'll use the alternator tester and multimeter that I have and see that kinds of loads it puts on the charging system in a real life senario.
Click to expand...


i can defintaley see why you dont drive in the rain... hahaha
i just know because i was driving home one rainy night, and your lights defintaley arent as brigh when your not using all that stuff... but it sounds like a good mod.
 
A

alloyguitar

it's legal, i swear...
Mar 30, 2005
570
0
0
36
knoxville, tennessee
Nashman: are you talking about bleeding out some of your power steering fluid in your lines, as in a controlled leak?

If so, that would put air into your lines, which is going to make your power steering whine, which would annoy the hell out of me...plus at some point I would have to replace the fluid that "leaked out." In my option, you would be able to control the stiffness from inside the vehicle, which I'm an advocate of.

Rennat: I know what you mean, like if you're idling and you rev it a bit, your dash lights get a bit brighter...At least, mine do, anyway, which doesn't make sense, considering the battery I'm using (optima blue top) should more an compensate for such the alternator spinning slowly...

...ah, hell, who cares, I'll have a new one soon enough anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom