Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Technical => Suspension/Steering => Topic started by: Aerocoupe on July 19, 2022, 12:20:59 PM

Title: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Aerocoupe on July 19, 2022, 12:20:59 PM
I have no idea if anyone here would want to do this but I will be doing it on my Coyote powered F100 so I thought I would pass it along.  You can use the following Volvo electric power steering pumps:

'06 - '08 C70
'05 - '09 S40
'05 - '09 V50

And this company makes a controller the allows the pump's ECU to get out of limp mode and either be manually controlled on the speed or GPS controlled:

https://www.brunosteering.com/product-category/brunosteering/electric-steering-controller-kits/volvo-electro-hydraulic-pump/

Little bit of a wait being they are across the Atlantic but right now they are the only ones that produce the interfaces and are super clean.

Found this over on the Corral and have noodled around and found it to be relatively moderate on the cost if you are only installing the pump.  If you swap to an SN-95 rack and pinion then the cost goes up from there.

https://www.corral.net/threads/volvo-electric-power-steering-conversion-full-write-up.2499503/
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Mikey97D on July 20, 2022, 07:45:42 AM
Good info!

Will you be using manual brakes on the F100 or using the same pump for the brakes too?  Or is there enough room for vacuum brakes?
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Aerocoupe on July 20, 2022, 10:47:27 AM
I have toyed with the idea of hydroboost brakes on the F100 but I am going to run power brakes with a vacuum booster.  Front brakes will consist of GT500 rotors, C5 Corvette calipers, and custom adapters on the Crown Vic spindles.  Rear brakes are off of a Ford Explorer as they work with the big bearing Torino ends that I have had welded to the housing.  Gives me an emergency brake that will tie into the factory e-brake foot pedal in the truck.

The Volvo electric power steering pump just keeps me from having to spend about $800 to put a belt driven power steering pump on the Coyote motor.  I can put the Volvo pump on, use the controller, and build custom lines for about $300 if I do it all brand new.
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: JeremyB on July 21, 2022, 10:23:17 AM
Cool!

Does the kit eliminate the low pressure due to limp mode that is mentioned in the corral thread you linked?


I wish they'd make an EPAS racks for the Foxes. Or maybe they do now since I haven't looked into it lately.
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Chuck W on July 21, 2022, 04:07:06 PM
Good info. I've thought about this before, but never had a need.

Contemplating a future project that might be a perfect recipient for this kind of swap.
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Aerocoupe on July 23, 2022, 07:15:44 PM
Yeah the controller eliminates the limp mode and comes in two versions. One has a pot that you manually turn to set the pump speed and the other comes with GPS and that automatically sets the speed.
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Chuck W on July 26, 2022, 09:28:45 AM
I've heard these pumps can be kind of loud. Is that still the case, or were those just poor installs?
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Aerocoupe on July 26, 2022, 10:18:28 AM
Here is a good video that give you and idea about how loud they are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb-nmS7NWTc

As soon as you start the motor (V8 or cylinder challenged with a hair dryer) you cannot hear it at all.  Most say that with the wheel well liner in its barely audible.  I am thinking the age of the pump, how well the system was maintained, and what fluid is used will have a lot to do with it as well.

The one thing that I have seen on several Volvo threads is they advise to run Pentosin CHF 202 (CHF 11 was the original) for the fluid.  The Volvo manual says ATF but fluid that caused problems with the Volvo rack and pinions (failures) so they updated to the Pentosin fluid which is available at NAPA, Autozone, and Amazon.  You can still get the CHF 11 at O'Reillys.

So the pump is a FoMoCo pump (remember that Ford owned Volvo from late 1999 to 2010) and evidently is is good to go with these fluids.  I have no idea if the Crown Vic rack will tolerate the Pentosin fluids or not and cannot find any definitive answer so right now my choice is to run a fully synthetic ATF like Redline D4.  I run this in my 1993 Mustang with a stock FoMoCo pump and an SN95 rack and it is super quiet.
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Chuck W on July 26, 2022, 10:40:07 AM
Not really any more noisy than a standard Ford PS pump. :p

Yeah, I know Ford owned Volvo for a short bit in the early 2000's.

I didn't want to do a manual rack on the project in question, so this is a good option.
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Thunder Chicken on July 28, 2022, 04:53:45 PM
I think you'll find that many mid 2000's Mazdas used the same pump, and possibly similar vintage Focus
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Beau on July 29, 2022, 01:26:19 PM
My '10 Milan has electric power steering, too.
Title: Re: Electric Power Steering Pump
Post by: Aerocoupe on July 31, 2022, 03:53:53 PM
Just an FYI, the pump I got took a 16mm x 1.5 o-ring seal to AN-06 adapter fitting on the high side connection at the pump.  Fitting I got is a Russell P/N 648060 and they also have a 14mm one which some have said their pump needed. I used my calipers and the ID of the threads on mine was a little larger than 1/2” so that lead me to order the 16mm which was correct. This allows me to build custom AN-06 lines to and from the pump. I also found Crown Vic rack and pinion adapters so it now has AN-06 fittings on it as well.

Maximum Motorsports has the ones for the Fox and SN95 racks. No cheap but they are the correct fittings of anyone ever goes down that road.