darcane

About two years ago I disabled my power steering by simply removing the belt. The pump, hoses, etc are all still there.

Since it isn't pressurized anymore, I was surprised to see power steering fluid coating the bottom of my car when I changed the oil yesterday. It appears to be leaking from one of the fittings on top of the steering rack even though it seems tight (hard to get a wrench in there...).

Since the reservoir is almost completely drained and I don't use the pump anyways, is there any harm in simply leaving it as is? Any ideas how it would be leaking if the pump isn't there to pressurize it?

lazlong

The seals will rot out with no fluid in the system.

Every time you move the wheel it exerts pressure on the system.

88CRX951

What's the purpose of disabling it anyways..... there is not much gain in any power just by removing the belt.

darcane

I wouldn't have guessed it to be enough to make it leak. Oh well. I'll probably just remove the pump and do a breather then.

Gain in power? These are commuter cars, not race cars.

Partially preference, and partially for fuel economy. I typically average about 44-48mpg commuting in heavy traffic, and can exceed 60mpg hwy.

88CRX951

Again like I said there are NO significant gains in power or better fuel economy.....

j13

iTrader: (2)

Exactly^^ doesn't give you more fuel economy. If you want better F/E you'll want to do aero mods, gut the car, more psi in the tires, and most of all do driving techniques to save gas. Taking off a belt would do nothing unless you try and put a manual rack and gut the P/S to save a little a weight. But still then it's pointless.