Not to bring this topic back from the dead, but I'm wondering how the racks are holding up after much usage?

Check out the PDF files that I posted, one is the fluid flow diagram and the other is fluid replacement. These are my two concerns about this method of converting to manual steering.

1) If you read the fluid flow diagram, the pressure is regulated by the valve (commonly referred to as the pinion), however the lines we loop are on the opposing side of the valve. In other words, all of the pressure built up inside the rack would be much better vented as the OP had it setup, with a T into the hardline otherwise the valve will effectively block any pressure built up inside the rack and the hoses / T fitting won't be able to do the intended job.

IMO if you are going to do this, in order to preserve your power steering rack you should do as the OP originally had it set up, but even still this does NOT effectively lubricate the valve. In other words, without the pressure of the system to push the fluid through, there's really no way to evenly lubricate the rack according to the diagram.

2) There's no way to change the fluid?

Just a little last tid bit of information:

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...4438.Eg.r.html

NORMAL



HARD RIGHT



That's to give you an idea of what's going on inside that valve. We are looping on the INPUT side of the valve. If you think about the diagrams and whatnot it makes MUCH more sense to vent directly off of the steering cylinder (hardlines) because it would directly venting pressure instead of having the pressure going through a maze of valves that will hinder flow.

The issue here is that without the pressure of the fluid, there's NO effective way to lubricate all the necessary components. The rack NEEDS pressure to get fluid to certain parts. In other words, how do you expect fluid to flow from the cylinder up to the valve if there's no pressure?