Advice Needed About Power Steering Pump And Hicas

[Shaun]

GDay,

Ive just put one of GTR Geoffs HICAS lock bars on my R32 gtst and i want to modify the power steering pump so that it doesnt needlessly pump fluid towards the rear of the car in the now redundant power steering lines. Also, i want to use the 3/8 HICAS lines as fuel lines to support an engine rebuilt etc.

I pulled the backing plate off the pump and removed all the little sliding impeller thingys from the wheel that sits on the geared shaft. I then removed the circlip so that i could take the impeller off the shaft just to have a sticky beak. The problem i have is that i damaged the circlip and the backing plate will no longer fit over the shaft properly. ive been to a million bearing places and cant find a circlip that will suit.

As the pump is pretty ugly with peeling paint and doesnt look nice besides my shiney engine, i was wondering if either of the following would work:

• Could i remove the rear part of the pump all together and then shorten the shaft and turn up a new circlip groove to keep the shaft captive in the pump. This will just remove the part of the pump that circulates fluid to the rear wheels. The pump will therefore, be about 40mm shorter.

• Or, could i just buy a non hicas pump (like off a VL or something that has a single chamber) and just use that.

If anyone has any experience in this area, or done something similar please let me know.

Thanks,

Shaun.

[MountainRunner]

We tried a non hicas pump and it didn't fit properly. You could probably make a braket for it I guess. We ended up pulling the blades out of the pump as you originally did.

[R31Nismoid]

your stock fuel lines should be fine... no need to re-use old lines

ive heard a few people say that blocking up the chamber or something doenst work... not up with the full details as yet as to what it was...

thats one of my things to do in Dec

[Sydneykid]

Some of my many posts on HICAS removal...........

I use the rear stage of the R32 pump to pump the fluid through the power steering cooler. It has been like that for 3 years. Don't just block off the rear stage, it will over heat and sieze. You can remove the rear rotor, but you then have to reroute the fluid to get it through the cooler.

There is no hydraulic pressure when you bypass the front solenoids and run the power steering fluid return through the cooler pipe and back into the reservoir. So a piece of (longer) hose is a perfectly acceptable solution, in fact Nissan uses a piece of hose at the reservoir on the return.

Remove the standard rack, there are 2 hydraulic hoses connected to it. Unbolt the hoses from the rack and from the terminal block and close off the fittings in the terminal block with bolts. Put the hydraulic lines in a plastic bag and store it in a safe place. Then undo the the hydraunlic hose from the front solenoids, under the inlet manifold on the RHS inner guard. Buy a short (around 600 mm) piece of rubber bypass hose (hydraulic) from Pirtec, Enzed etc and slip one end of it over the steel pipe that comes from the power steering pump up to the solenoids. Then stick the other end over the steel pipework that comes from the cooler pipe (it runs around in a loop in front of the radiator). Don't forget to block off the holes in the front solenoid block with bolts as well to keep the crap out.

there are not "two lines coming out of it, that go to the rear for the two hydraulic rams". Have a closer look and you will find that the front half of the power steering pump supplies pressure to the front steering rack and the rear half of the power steering pump supplies hydraulic pressure to the rear steering rack. There is no hydraulic pressure interconnection between the front and rear steering racks.

If you are ciiruit racing then you will need the power steering. The amount of caster you need to run makes the steering very heavy especially with decent racing tyres (slicks or "R" type). We also run a power steering cooler as the fluid gets hot after a 20 minute race.

If you are drag racing, then ditch the power steering, saves weight and power loss. Stick some bolts in the holes in the rack where the pipes are removed, keeps the dirt out. Makes no difference to the rack, just heavy steering. But you are only driving in a straight line, so it doesn't matter.

On an R32 you reroute the rear power steering supply (the one that goes to the solenoids on the front RHS inner guard) via the power steering cooler back into the power steering fluid reservoir. You can remove the two solenoids at the front and the one at the rear, plus the supply and return pipework. All up saving of ~20 kgs including the rear rack

Somewhere is all that dribble might be something you can use.

cheers

[Evan_R33]

Why don't you just loop the hose straight back on itself at the pump. You should never have pulled it apart!

And as far as using old power steering fluid lines for fuel..... well that would be down right stupid!

[Sydneykid]

And as far as using old power steering fluid lines for fuel..... well that would be down right stupid!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gosh, I must be stupid.

They are made of the same steel tube as the fuel lines, with larger wall thickness, so stronger

They run parrallel to the fuel lines using the same mounting brackets

They start just next to the fuel tank

The end just under the inlet plenum

They have nice, standard sized, screw flange fittings, so braided hose bolts straight up at both ends

Power steering fluid is petrol soluable so it's easy to clean them out, just turn the fuel pump on for a few seconds

There is one that is 60% larger in diameter than the standard fuel line, so handles 60% more fuel flow

Or there is one that is the same size as the fuel supply pipework, so you can run 2 pumps and 2 fuel supply hoses, one to each end of the fuel rail

You can then use the larger pipework for the fuel return

Maybe I am not so stupid after all

cheers

PS; I have done it on 4 X R32's, works a charm

Edited October 7, 2005 by Sydneykid

[Waldo]

hey mate, i didnt want to muck around with pulling stuff outta the hicas pump. i went to the wreckers and bought a r31 pump, its works a treat but the only thing that is differant you will need a 10mm spacer in behind the mounting bracket on the pump so the power steering pump doesnt sit on the timing belt cover, you will also need a 3 groove belt as the hicas pump is a 4 groove, just make sure everything is lined up parrallel and it wont come off.

[Shaun]

Gosh, I must be stupid.

They are made of the same steel tube as the fuel lines, with larger wall thickness, so stronger

They run parrallel to the fuel lines using the same mounting brackets

They start just next to the fuel tank

The end just under the inlet plenum

They have nice, standard sized, screw flange fittings, so braided hose bolts straight up at both ends

Power steering fluid is petrol soluable so it's easy to clean them out, just turn the fuel pump on for a few seconds

There is one that is 60% larger in diameter than the standard fuel line, so handles 60% more fuel flow

Or there is one that is the same size as the fuel supply pipework, so you can run 2 pumps and 2 fuel supply hoses, one to each end of the fuel rail

You can then use the larger pipework for the fuel return

Maybe I am not so stupid after all 

cheers

PS;  I have done it on 4 X R32's, works a charm

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thankyou for making my point SK. I think using the power steering lines for fuel is an excellent idea, as pointed out to me by Paul (two06l).

In regards to your first post though, i dont think my R32 gtst has a power steering cooler. Are these only on the GTR's?

Thanks,

Shaun.

[Shaun]

hey mate, i didnt want to muck around with pulling stuff outta the hicas pump. i went to the wreckers and bought a r31 pump, its works a treat but the only thing that is differant you will need a 10mm spacer in behind the mounting bracket on the pump so the power steering pump doesnt sit on the timing belt cover, you will also need a 3 groove belt as the hicas pump is a 4 groove, just make sure everything is lined up parrallel and it wont come off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Waldo, i might give that a go as i want to clean up another pump and make the engine bay as clean as possible.

[T04GTR]

ok

pull the pump off and remove the rear cover.

remove all the vanes that sit in the rear rotor and put it back on. block off the rear fitting. simple fixed. :lol:

[Shaun]

ok

pull the pump off and remove the rear cover.

remove all the vanes that sit in the rear rotor and put it back on. block off the rear fitting. simple fixed. :lol:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats exactly what i was going to do. Its an easy fix. But in the process of having a sticky beak inside the pump i stuffed a circlip and i cant find anyone who can supply me one just like it. So i just thought id get rid of the second chamber completely. Now i think about it though, i think my efforts would be best used in modifying a circlip to fit and just do exactly what youve suggested.