I'm guessing that it's not supposed to do this. Another thing to buy or rebuild while the hood, radiator, condenser are out!

 

N ot sure that is an issue. A bit disconcerting, to be sure. A sign of impending failure? Not sure, It is a pump also used on GM cars. Quite popular. So it should not cost a "king's ransom". And Google on it as a GM thing. I suspect You Tube and more will have a discussion on servicing it.


Carl

 

go to a salvage yard to the GM section. The pump is a 1980's GM Saginaw pump, readily available at any auto parts store.

 

Save the valve and spring from the unit that is in the Jag at this time - swap it into the new pump once you get it .

 

Can I assume you are telling me that because the new pump I have on order doesn't have the valve and spring? And I didn't throw them out, so I do still have them.


Thanks for the tip.

 

Yes. Swap out the valve and spring from the OEM pump to the new GM pump. The valve and spring controls the pump pressure to the rack. If you don't, you may suffer from premature seal failure on the steering rack.

 

The valves were definitely different from each other.

 

I have swapped them over - thank you very much.

 

The relief valve swap is to match the out put in PSI to the "need" of the rack. A mismatch can result in twitchy steering input. The "need" of the GM Saginaw box is different from the Jaguar rack.


Andrew Weinberg's Jaguar-Specialties site has a write up on this point. Although, a swap site, much of the information transcends. And Andrew in addition to being a good guy is well versed in Jaguars.


Carl

 

Went to his site and couldn't find what you are referring to, but I will certainly take your word for it. Many thanks.

 

Found this real interesting article on PS pumps.


And also this link.
Borgeson 899001 Pressure Reducing Kit For Saginaw Power Steering Pump (cjponyparts.com)


I feel my steering effort is way too easy. I don't have a fluid pressure gauge to find out what the real pressure is. But I may have to get one.

 

Was trying to attach a PDF and was unsuccessful

 

Bill
I just did the pump valve adjustment with the Borgeson 899001 kit. Before, the steering was very light, but not objectionable. The problem was the very difficult ability to keep the car stable in the straight ahead. The steering wheel was slightly twitchy on center. I installed the kit with (4) washers, thinking I would have more "feel" in the steering and save the rack from high pressures. What I got was the same "feel", but noticeable improvement with straight-line stability. I'll take it. According to the instructions in the kit, the pump was reduced from 1350psi to 850psi, this would be at full lock, I assume.

Dave

 

Dave - I ordered the same kit and now have it on the shelf and on the TO DO list. Not my highest priority, but will get done at some point. Happy to hear of your success. I'm getting the same steering problem as your before description. But I also am not getting it to snap back straight after going around a corner. Have mucked with the caster without much success.

 

Bill
It wasn't on top of my to-do list either, but I wanted to get it done before the snow hit so that I could do a little road test. Sorry to hear about the steering return, I have mine set at 2.3* positive on caster and .5* negative on the camber. It returns to center very nicely. Good luck.

Dave

 

Update on the steering pump kit.
After considering the feel of the steering this spring, I decided to add the 5th and final washer in the Borgeson kit. According to the instructions, this should put the pressure at about 700psi (at lock). The feel is still too light for my liking, but there has been an improvement overall. Apparently, the pressure needed to actually assist the steering is much, much less. On the whole, I'm just not pleased with the ultra quick steering with nearly nil feel. 1/2" movement at the wheel sends me into the next lane pretty quickly, very tiring after awhile. What makes this more irritating to me is the fact that "suspension" is the second most important aspect of a car.

Dave

 

Dave - Have you done Item# 43 in the below?

 

Thanks for the thought, Bill. Yes, I followed that procedure when I rebuilt the unit, I'm not getting any "knock" or play of any kind and the action is very smooth, just ultra quick. I'm going to check the alignment tomorrow just to see if anything has moved around after its maiden outing last summer. I'm sure this will have to be an acquired condition.

Dave

 

I was looking through the shop manual and my rebuild records for the front alignment specs and noticed a contradiction. The shop manual shows positive camber and I set mine at negative camber. In doing some quick internet search and a few posts on the Forum, negative camber seems to be standard for road vehicles. I set mine at .5*N each side, why would the shop manual say to set positive camber??

Dave