Power Steering Pump Questions
 

Background story:

OK so I know my power steering pump has been on its way out for a while. It crapped out a while back. I took it to a mazda dealership to have them look over the car and find things that need to be fixed and to give me estimates. They told me over the phone that it the P/S pump was internally binding and lines were leaking and that it would be $1200 to replace the power steering pump. I told them to just give me estimates and I will come back if I feel the need to be raped. So I go back to pick up the car and get the estimate list. I read thru the list on my way out and the estimate for the power steering was WAY off from what they told me it would cost. The final estimate was $1750!! So I take the car to a performance shop a block away from work and they replace the leaky hose with a high pressure hose ($20) and whalla! P/S works fine. I have been driving the car for a few months since then and every once in a while the P/S seems a little tougher than normal at low speed turns. So I figure the pump is really internally binding as the dealership said. Then today about a mile away from work today the P/S seems to have completely given out again.

Ok so here are my questions. Please excuse the extreme stupidity I have never really worked on a car(hence me going to a dealership to get repair estimates). My line of work(network admin) is far from that of an auto mechanic but I would love to learn how to work on this car though. What P/S pump will work with my car?(s5 91 NA Auto Vert, soon to be TII Vert) I called up mazdatrix cause I swear they had P/S pumps a few months ago. They don't have them, and I was told mazda was probably the only place to get one. And to make sure I get the right one because there are a couple different ones. I figured any s5 P/S pump would work. Like say a pump from an 89 vert? Will one of these work?
http://replacement.mazreplacementpar...l=null&dp=true
I have been looking over this:
http://208.62.166.66:82/guest/shop_m...ing_system.pdf
Looks like there may be more work involved than I have time to figure out how to do. :( I searched the forums for stuff on Power Steering and theres not much about it except for removing it. :D

Heres my two cents in case you want something else to consider.

If you remove the pump and lines then you wont have any more problems, as well as give you a bit more space in the engine bay and some free engine horsepower. Ive removed my P/S(well still removing lines since im also in the process of pulling the A/C at the same time) and ive noticed much better performance. THe only drawbacks ive found in my experience is that its harder to turn from a dead stop, turning into an entrance with a high bump may jerk the wheel from your hands if you are not prepared, and that its a bit of a pain to remove it all in the first place. But considering my lines are leaking and ive run the pump dead its my choice that ive dealt with and now getting used to, loving the performance gain as well.

TAKE IT OUT! you feel the road a lot better...and it feels tighter. i dont have it in my TII and im glad...plus you will save yourself 1200 bucks by not replacing it...what more can you ask for?

IF IT DOESNT WORK...GET RID OF IT

But it will make driving while talking on the phone and eating lunch much harder!! Is it supposed to be redicioulously hard to turn the wheel without P/S?

Not in my 88 base it doesnt. Though im pretty sure the fact my tires are only 185's on the 14" rims then i have a lil less of a steering issue. But generally if you are talking on the phone, get a head set; if your eating, dont. But steering shoudlnt be stupid hard if you are moving.

i've been driving without a PS pump for a while. I'm running 225's all the way around in my TI and i have no problems at all!

hehe, I was joking about the phone and eating. While moving its not that bad but at slow speeds its a real bitch.

just a bit of a bitch, but if you dont mind it its free power for the car and gives you space to add something else in its stead. And besides, IMHO power steering is for the lazy who eat, talk, and try to drive with there knees.

When I removed my PS pump, I was told that if you remove some of the fluid in the steering rack it shouldn't be that difficult to turn the wheel. Leave enough fluid in there to lube the steering gear, but not enough to build up pressure and make steering difficult. You will notice a difference when you turn the wheel and the car isn't moving, but it shouldn't be so much resistance that it makes your arms tired. If it does, you need to go to the gym :D

HA HA I was wondering when someone was gonna say that. Problem is now there is lots of fluid in the lines so theres plenty of pressure, whichs makes it a bitch.

Disconnect the line from the steering rack and that will drain the line. Then you should be able to buy a plastic seringe that you can use to draw the fluid out of the steering rack. I don't think there is a drain plug on it. Some model RX-7s didn't have power steering. If you are feeling really ambitious you can swap the power steering rack for a manual rack. The gear ratio is different in the manual rack it will not be as difficult to turn the wheel.

Ok I just took the car for a quick drive around the town. P/S was gone until I drove over some railroad tracks and took another turn. Suddenly I had full P/S again. I checked the fluid level it appears to be fine. Anyone have any thoughts on this?