Hi there. Last summer I replaced my steering rack with a remanufactured one because it leaked a ton. Now, I have a squeaky belt, so I took off the belt from the power steering pump to see if it was the culprit. It got me thinking whether I could cause any damage to the seals. I can see both sides: first, no, because there's still fluid in the system, it just isn't flowing. But yes, because fluid flow keeps seals good.
The thing is, I don't really care for the PS enough to want to keep it. It's really not hard to turn the wheel except when I'm not moving, and with it disconnected my engine is more efficient anyway. Plus, if I deleted the power steering system entirely, I could have more room for a turbo, which I want to do in the distant future.
Really I guess the question is: "is there a reason to switch from a power steering rack to a manual steering rack, it can I just leave the PS rack in with everything disconnected because I really really really don't want to swap steering racks again.
Thanks for your thoughts.

 

There shouldn't be any issues, a lot of people do it & really as long as there is still fluid in it you should be fine. I personally switched to a manual rack in my EM1, I don't like having to turn the wheel so hard at low speeds. If you want to keep the p/s rack, you can just buy a loop kit, there are a few versions, some are literally just a tube that loops both connections and others have a loop & a reservoir on it so you can keep the fluid topped off.

 

Thanks. Why is a manual rack easier to turn at low speeds? And what the heck is a loop kit?

 

The manual rack is/was easier because it has a different gearing/tooth count on the rack internals, basically it takes more turns lock to lock compared to a p/s rack. For daily/spirited driving I never noticed a difference on turning speeds.

I am at work so I can't really get any photos, but if you google "honda p/s loop kit" you will see what I am talking about. It is literally exactly what it sounds like, you are bypassing the pump and looping the high pressure and suction lines together at the steering rack. Same concept as removing the p/s belt, you just remove the pump & hoses, looks a lot cleaner and frees up space.

 

If your car has to pass a safety inspection, disconnecting the pump, with or without a "loop kit", may not be legal. A power rack with no power doesn't work as well as a manual one.

 

 

Fortunately, Utah got rid of safety requirements. For some reason. But whatever, I can drive without lugnuts on if I really wanted to! I won't, but I could. Thanks for the input though, I wouldn't have thought of that.

 

So I can't just plug the lines on the steering rack? I think I'll just go get some hose from the junkyard and connect it that way if I decide to delete the power steering.

 

 

That makes sense. Thanks man.