Is the power steering system integrated with other parts of the engine mechanically via belt system or such , or is it a discrete system?

Why? Curious if it can be disabled completely in one fashion or another.

 

XJ6's use a gear driven pump, directly from the engine, if I remember correctly. The XJ12 power steering pumps are belt driven off the A/C compressor belt.

There's a driving gear and coupler that connects the power steering pump in the XJ6's, you may be able to remove driving gear or coupler and essentially disable the system.

Do you have a power steering leak that you'd keep in check by disabling the system?

-Nick

 

No leaks, no problems, had everything extensively checked at recent 60k service while at 64k miles using augmented checklist from this forum.

I simply find the power steering to be way too much and I want it off completely. My XKR 2002 operated in limp home mode (deliberately) so I could enjoy the steering without the excessive overboost.

Any pictures or specifics for my mechanic to look into on Monday? He is curious...

 

Remove the pump, RH side of the engine. 3 bolts, and some hoses. The plastic coupler will possibly fall out, but thats about it.

The oil hoses to and from the pump and container will not be rocket science.

 

Grant, following is a response from another about this on a different thread of mine.

sparkenzap commented

"Disable the power steering, huh? I think you might be headed down a bad road with that one! I suggest you study the servo valve integrated into the steering box input shaft before you decide it should be transferring full steering forces to the box without assist."

Yikes! What do you think?

 

I think disabling the power steering would make the X300 un-driveable unless you have arms like Arnie.

Sit in the car with the engine off and try turning the wheel. That's what you'll have every time you pull out of a junction or try to park at the supermarket.

 

I agree with Sparkenzap. BUT, you did ask "can it be disabled", of course it can.

Safety, reliabilty, whatever, were not asked, so I did not address them.

I drove the XJ-S once with a snapped p/s belt, VERY DIFFERENT SYSTEM, and that was scary at best, and staying polite.

I would NOT do it, on any p/s equipped car, unless the manufacturer offered a same model without p/s, which is a no-no these days.

The XJ Series 1 was the last that I remember.

 

XJRengineer echoed the same concerns below, although there is the final question about XJR steering

"I would NOT recommend disabling the power steering. In my opinion the car will be completely undriveable, because the effort required to turn the steering wheel at low speeds will be very high. I once had to negotiate a corner in an automatic car just as the engine cut out and it is not an experience I would want to repeat ! Try turning the steering wheel when the engine isn’t running to get a feel for what effort would be required when parking.

I think the PAS is weighted differently on the XJR, but I don’t know if this is achieved through hardware or software changes, or both. You could make give an XJ6 the steering feel of an XJR if you changed the appropriate parts."

 

The fibre coupler removal will work IF you also cut the drive 'pegs' on either the pump coupler OR the engine driven coupler. I would remove the pump coupler (if you wanted NO PAS) because you if you want to return to PAS it would be as easy as reinstalling the coupler on the pump shaft.

The fibre coupler insert just keeps the metal 'pegs' from 'banging' against each other. The couplers would still drive, just 'metal-to-metal'.

I would look into trying to use the variable assist valve on the rack to lessen the PAS.

bob gauff

 

While the points made about excessive force while turning are valid, my original concern had to do with the construction of the servo valve which is inline with the steering box shaft. I DO NOT know whether or not it is a problem, but, as I said, I would consider it!

The servo valve is what determines how much hydraulic assist to output to the cylinders. Normally, the torque applied to the steering shaft simply moves the servo valve input shaft relative to the output shaft, and the hydraulics then move the rack. I am quite sure the valve is designed is designed to transmit the full torque required to steer, but the design would only anticipate that happening on an intermittent basis. I don't think anyone could be assured that valve will transmit the full torque on a continuous basis without the possibility of stress fatigue failure.

BTW, I may be a little sensitive to this, since I had a steering pump failure introduce metal shavings into the servo valve on a Mustang I was driving, and it resulted in the valve commanding nearly full force steering in one direction. Fortunately, that direction was towards the side of the road, and not into oncoming traffic!