OK this weekend I decided to upgrade from hydro assist to full hydro. However, it is not working rite. I am running an orbital motor with the proportional valve from a john deere. The stock pump on the 318 motor is making alot of noise now. Is there a way to take the pump apart and make it pump more. I think that is what my prob is. Not pumping enough. Any other ideas. Thanks

Travis

Travis -

Check out:

http://westtexasoffroad.homestead.com/powersteering.html

Don't know if it'll be enough for full hydro or not. You planning to go back to Unlimiteds next ERoCC season?

Jim

Originally posted by rockcrawl
Any other ideas. Thanks

Travis

Are you running any kind of cooler with it?

The pumps on the dodge trucks I've driven lately make a little noise just in the stock applications. :rolleyes: (I drive one variation or another DAILY)

I know the AGR pump I put in my CJ was noisey until I added a cooler to the return line.

This not only cools, but adds more fluid to the system.

MJ

Thanks. I do run a cooler in my system already. Thanks for the site Jim. That might work. Yeah I plan to run unlimited next year but it will be in a new rig. Any other ideas would be great.

Travis

OK I tried the suggestions in the above site but it didnt help much. When it is sitting still, I can turn it very little or none at all. When I mounted the orbital vaslve and the proportional vavle I welded them to brackets that would be mounted on the jeep frame. Is it possible that the heat from welding them caused any damage. I dont know if they have anything in them to hurt. I really need some help here.

Travis

come on help me out here

I had a problem with the first orbital valve that I put on my truck did not work you could turn the truck but it was like it had no pressure from the pump (it had 1200psi, I checked) put a new valve on and no more problems. I will say though that every time I've worked on my steering it has taken several hours to get all of the air out of the system so that it quits making nose.

Originally posted by YELLER BLAZER
I had a problem with the first orbital valve that I put on my truck did not work you could turn the truck but it was like it had no pressure from the pump (it had 1200psi, I checked) put a new valve on and no more problems. I will say though that every time I've worked on my steering it has taken several hours to get all of the air out of the system so that it quits making nose.

Did you have probs with the orbital motor or the proportional valve. A buddy told me to take the proportional valve apart and try cleaning it. Also I think I have all the air out of the system. When I tried to bleed it, it APPEARED that only fluid was coming out. Any suggestions on getting all the air out and knowing that it is. I assume it is like bleeding brakes. Thanks

Travis

ttt

OK I have tried everything to get this to work and am still having problems. I installed a new ram and replaced the proportional valve with a different one and still the same problem. I have also tried to increase the pressure that the factory pump puts out and still am having probs. We jacked the front up and with no weight on the tires it turns like a charm. I have come to the conclusion that my pump just aint hackin it. What I need to know is if there is another pump that will bolt up to the 318 engine in the zj. Is the pump on my 360 in my dodge truck any different? Will a pump off a chevy bolt up. With all the hydro freaks out there, some has got to have the answer here. Thanks

Travis

Station is the man around here...But I'll give it a shot being as though I just got off the phone with Jeff Howe...And have spent mucho bandwidth with Station.

Essentially for full hydro (depending on the size of your ram/single through/double ended etc.), you should shoot for 1500-2000psi @ 3.5 - 5 gpm if you have a 2? bore, 8? through. Most stock pumps don't put out near that amount. Most will be 12-1300 psi at 2 - 2.5 gpm (some less some more).

Jeff was telling me that he runs -6 lines from the ram to the orbital...Then -8 to the cooler/res...And -10 from the res to the return....He stated that the return (-10) line should be no more than 2' long. Obviously the res should be above the pump also.

We also talked about what he does to stock pumps to provide flow. His feelings are that problems typically happen when components (orbital/ram/pump) aren't sized and matched correctly. For pump mod's he essentially machines the input/return of the pump to -10 all the way to the veins (sp?). He also mic's and checks the tolerances of the housing to ensure that under load the pump won't bind and fail....Then after all is said and done he bench tests all the components together.

I even asked him about buying one of his res/filter systems...He told me he wouldn't sell it to me without first checking the pump. He is aware of how fast negative information travels and he doesn't want ANY of his components on a "system" he didn't at least check out prior to the sale.

I have a small Lee pump I bought used...It was pulled after one season from a Nascar rig...Nice little pump that will lend itself to major tweaking (PM me if you want to know where I got it?The guy might have more).... However Jeff still want's to check and mod the pump to his specs prior to letting me buy one of his trick reservoirs! Going a little too far IMO, but he's the best...And that's for a reason.

I've recently installed some Howe stuff and posted a thread a little while ago. I think that Rock Rover is on the right track here. Howling is usually indicative of air in the system. You need a lot of volume to feed the ram; particularly volume supplied TO the pump - otherwise the pump will run dry, cavitate, etc; and howl like mad without doing much to turn the wheels. This makes it extremely difficult to bleed the system effectively and the aeration problem becomes self-propagating. Your pump cannot put out more than it can take in - and while the stock pump may not put out much volume, the reservoir configuration and return side of stock systems is usually REEAlly poor for a full hydro or ram assist, where turning the wheel suddenly demands large volumes of juice. My pump is located at the same level as the crank pulley and the reservoir is up with the cap at the same level as the radiator cap. Reservoir feeds the pump with 3/4" line; box to cooler and cooler to reservoir is 1/2". A higher-volume pump would certainly help, but a decent way to keep it wet when high volume is suddenly demanded is probably the most important thing.

Right on the money Lloyd!

BTW, you up for a PowerLine run sometime in November? Then maybe shoot over to the Avalanche Ranch for a day?

--D

Sounds good. Went to Katy Lake with the little guy on Wed. evening after work and still made it home in time for dinner. Hey, I got my PM boxes cleaned out so that should be working again. Sorry that we fouled up last Friday somehow.

Do you mean PowerHouse? Not sure that I know of this PowerLine you speak of. Need to go hit the gas line cuts around here too.