ya, im fed up w/it, as well as my a/c, but im in the desert, so i cant go w/out a/c...

i know when i throw my p/s a/c belt, its hard to turn the wheel more than 1/2 turn if that....w/out the p/s assembly and all the fluids, etc that it uses, i will gain back the 2 rotations or whatever i have currently, it will just be a lil harder to turn when the car is stopped/goin slo right???

basically, i wanna hear from the members who have yanked theirs, what was involved, any special tools i will need, and pointers/tips about things that will cum up during the de'stall...and the diff between power steering and no power steering

i know the actual pulley/pump will be removed, but what about the lines to/from wherever they go (prolly the suspension/turnin things)
and all the lil things that i can yank out..

also, i do have the afx udp... i will be okay runnin a smaller belt directly to the a/c, right?? or will i have to use the tensioner pulley as well?? i use the p/s mounting spot to tighten up the belt now, but w/out it, and just the a/c would removing the tensioner pulley be a bad idea?? (can i get away w/usin the a/c pump deal to tighten the belt that will run it?? and how would i do that? the same way as i do the p/s?)

i will be studyin my chiltons, and what i have of the FSMs later tonight, and throughout the week... so any info/help is appreciated..

i havent been on here much lately cuz i been so busy w/my new job... so i will try to post more as more info is thrown on this thread....


and btw, if u need a home loan, hit me up!!!!

well man, I threw mine several times due to an effed up PS pulley (mitsu recall), but you can just cut it off, hell, I watched em do that to mine to make it easier for them to take the pulley off, gained a NICE! power increase, but living in SE Texas, where a cool day is 100 degrees 100% humidity, I need my A/C more than speed

If my car was here I would go take a look at it. The only consequences I can think of without looking is more stress on the a/c pulley. Also the stress will be on a different side of the a/c condensor. Another thing iw as thinking was that the a/c pulley might turn a little faster that way, but you are already reduced by 30 percent at the crank so I don't think that is a concern. I'm probably not making any sense, I am just throwing ideas out there, things to think about. I really don't think you will hurt anything by doing this, other than MAYBE the life of your a/c and perhaps the resale value of the car, unless you re-install it when you get rid of it.

If your serious about getting rid of your power steering, just set it up without it, and see how bad it is before you start unbolting all that shit and removing it... I can tell you that its gonna SUCK. I used to have an old truck without power steering and i always hated fighting that damn thing. And I hope you dont wanna be a cornering demon, cause it just aint gonna happen, hehe...

ahhh haha you cant forget that our little eclipse's probably weigh half as much as your big old truck and our eclipse's also probably have just a more technologically advanced steering/handling/suspension set up in general. my friends miata has no power steering and you wanna talk fun handling!!!!! my god that thing is a blast. it is the most amazing machine for carving through the mountains or making the mustangs cry(its super charged). im not dissagreeing that without power steering our cars will be very different, i am just sayings its a far cry from the arm killing big old truck.

Wrong. Its a bitch without power steering. I've been running without power steering for about a week now, and it sucks ass. My buddy "Wang" has a 68' Chevy truck without power steering, and its easier to turn than mine. Why? It was designed to turn without powersteering, therefore the ratio is different. My belt got shredded, and I've just been too busy/lazy to put another one on. This weekend I will though. Its been too damn hot :D

hmm well I threw my Accessory belt racing a camaro SS (I lost too) and it sucked driving without that thing, that wheel was so hard to turn it was dangerous. Remember our cars are front wheel drive so you'll get mega torquesteer because the engine is in the front and the power is going to the steering wheels. My MR2 has manual steering and it bitch doing U turns and stuff. If you can rig it up so you can steer decently with it I guess its ok, but when I jump into my eclipse after I drive the MR2 haha I always go "Thank god for powersteering!"

With just the belt off, you would need to drain the fluid to get a real feel for what it will be like. With only the belt off, not only are you trying to turn the wheels with the steering wheel, but also displace all the fluid in the rack and lines. My guess is that it wouldn't be too bad without the fluid in the rack and all the hoses, ect. removed.

Its easier to steer a truck or any RWD car with out p/s because they are rear wheel drive :) With front wheel, you now have to turn more parts(cv joints ect..) so it makes it harder. I'm not sure if you can drain out all the fluid either from the rack, i would think it needs it to be lubricated to function properly? Just a thought.

thanks for the input... so w/out the fluids, it "should" be easier....

im gunna drive my buddies neon 420a later tonight w/the p/s taken off, and i'll see what diff it has...

thanks, and more input as to the use of the tensioner pulley, and the tightening of the belt once i do remove the p/s pulley/system...

no VTEC powa

my friends old civic didn't have ps on it and it drove just fine. you could barely tell it didn't have ps, the only difference was that the steering wheel didn't return to center after you turned it. besides that it was easy. i've been driving for a few months now w/o the ps/ac belt on and it SUCKS. a car that was made with ps is hard to drive w/o it, so i'm ASSUMING if you take out all the ps components (fluid etc etc) it will be much more docile.

I still say keep it... if it was designed for power steering, leave it that way, the power you gain from the unsprung weight wont be that great anyhow... I removed my ac system, including the tensioner assemble, all the lines, condenser, etc, evap system, and egr system, and I can't feel that big of a gain... maby a little.. maby you might feel more being NA.. I dunno but I dont think its worth the work.

Here's the lowdown... yes, it is tough to steer with the belt off. You are moving a lot of fluid and pushing it through the pump. The best alternative is to remove the pump, and connect the 2 lines from the rack. Keep the fluid in for lubrication, but make a loop circuit so that the fluid can always turn. It won't be much (if any) harder then with the fluid drained, but avoids the wear and tear on the rack. Another thing to keep in mind is that a car set up for a manual rack has more turns lock to lock, so it requires much less effort. A power rack that is not power assisted will be difficult as it requires more turns lock to lock. I would just keep the power steering setup, personally.
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