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2 questions about power steering


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If dirt somehow made it into the system, or the fluid seals on the rack are leaking, then you could potentially have dirt in the system - which will eventually scratch the cylinder in the rack or destroy the pressure seals and cause pressure leakage side-to-side in the rack. It would feel much the same as a dying pump, but without the associated nasty noises. Not likely tho - Subaru PS racks are extremely tough. Even horribly neglected, they will outlast the engine by a good deal.

 

GD

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Subaru PS racks are extremely tough. Even horribly neglected, they will outlast the engine by a good deal.

 

GD

Yeah.. everyone of them except mine.. The engine lasted almost exactly 1 year longer than the rack.

 

Its good excersize though:lol:

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actually you do bleed it. you do this by turning the wheel (medium speed) back and forth between its stops a few times to let any air in the circuit get to the top. (of course the engine has to be running) and it's easier on a loose traction surface.

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Oh that bleeding part i know about. My haynes manual says to jack the car up first so you dont mess up the ps system, is this true or can i just risk it. My brother is using the lift on his jeep because we r putting an old man emu lift in it so i cant use it for a couple days. I meant like do i have to bleed the fluid thats in there now out of it. Thanks a bunch guys

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My 5 cents :lol:. You should just take the power steering out. Unless you do some pretty hard offroad action(like rock crawling or really bumpy shizzle). It just is a hassle and robs some power from your motor. I know GD is gonna shoot this down, but hey, my opinion is well, mine. If you don't believe me, you can ask the two PS systems I trashed canned. I mean, what are you going to use the PS for? Taking some slight corners at 35mph?

 

Just my JuJu.

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PS is good for a lot of stuff. For one thing, the Subaru PS pumps rob almost nothing power wise. One need only turn the pump by hand to see that.

 

For RallyX action, the PS is great because you can control the vehicle with one hand, and have the other free for shifting, hand braking and so forth. This keeps you from haveing to switch tasks with your right hand all the time, and that saves time.

 

For off-road, PS acts as a dampener so the wheel isn't jerked out of your hands, resulting in the vehicle not going where you want, or worse - broken wrists and fingers. And as Jared pointed out, PS makes life on the rocks, and deep ruts actually possible, where it nearly was not before.

 

In short, it helps to better control the vehicle, and that will save you time on the track, and allow you to go slower and be more careful on the trail.

 

That said, it really makes no difference on a stock rig driven on the street. I run without PS on my Brat as my daily driver, and don't really notice the difference. But that's only because I don't put that vehicle in situations where PS would benifit me. I have it on my wagon, and have driven plenty of lifted rigs without it. And both myself, and everyone who has driven my wagon agree that PS is like a whole different world. Driving my wagon off-road isn't "work" like it is on manual rack rigs. It's actually fun!

 

People on here can say whatever they wan't, but you talk to the people who have driven both, and every single one will tell you that PS is the way to go.

 

I should also point out, that if you are comming from manual rack EA82 land, then you have it MUCH better than the EA81's. The EA82 manual rack is FAR superior to the EA81 manual. It turns almost like it IS PS. Credit to Subaru for getting the design that polished. The EA81 manual racks are hell on the rocks. Seriously, I have driven 1960's military trucks with easier manual steering - at least they have a HUGE steering wheel.

 

GD

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