### Power Steering 460

[sspano01]

Hi Folks,

I've been wrestling with power steering on my cobra since nearly day 1.
I have 429/460 block in my cobra and started with the March brackets, saginaw power steering pump, and mustang ii rack.

The main issue was that the power steering pump, was too large and never fit right. The march brackets wanted to put the pump too low. And there was really no good way to mount the pump and be able to get tension.

I have a setup that worked for about 1500 miles or so, and then started throwing belts every 200-300 miles. Mostly due to tension, belt would slack a bit, start wobbling, and blow off.

Fast forward....I think I now have the final solution! (And no its not manual steering)

I looking around the web, I came across some info on Volvos.
The volvo S40/S60 uses an electro-hydraulic power steering pump. Basically, a standard power steering pump that runs with electricity. Varys from about 10 amps to 80 amps. 80 amps only at full lock if you crank the wheel all the to the right or left.

The pump has two connectors, power and ground for the main power.
Then an "on" signal from the ignition, and two CANBUS signals for the volvo ecm.
The pump starts up after 2 seconds, without canbus and runs at a constant rate.



Details from volvo thread

Volvo electro hydraulic power steering - Page 3 - DIY Electric Car Forums

volvo wiring harness for the main 2-pin power/ground input
volvo part# 30775461

the three pin connector is part of the main wiring harness, so you would need to take that out of a volvo. I am using a single crimp connector on pin #1 of the three pin connector for my ignition signal, until I get to a junkyard to see if I can find an exact connecto match.

the pump response feels great, not jittery or slugish when driving.

the pump provides that CANBUS interface for the volvo ecm....now
If anyone has access to some volvo engineering documents - it would be great to get the "command specification" for the pump. The ECM tells the pump to change its speed based on the speed of the car/etc so you can have dynamic control over the power steering response. I own an engineering company and we could easily make a little CANBUS controller to tell the pump what to do with itself. But we would need the protocol spec - or a volvo S40/S60 that I can put some engineering equipment on and reverse engineer the command set.

Even without CANBUS, the pump response is great and I love it.
And it doesn't use a belt
I could probably shut it off as well with a large relay and gain 5-10 horsepower as well :P

Pump cost $150 on ebay from nationwide auto parts.
Iteresting....it was listed for a VolvoS40/S60 - but it has FORD stampings on it !!


Here are installs pics from my Cobra. I made a little bracket to bolt to the water pump and the OEM bracket that has little rubber shock mounts that then holds up the pump.

IMG_0998 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_0999 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_1001 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_1002 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_0997 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

If anyone is having pump/fitment issues - maybe this could help you out?