Well, at the risk of doin it again.... (pissin off the purists 😉 )


My OE power steering pump decided to try to come apart...
No change in noise, no fluid trails, nothing. Just all of a sudden, my engine was laboring, heard a knocking noise, and thought the worst. Pulled over, opened the hood, and saw what could have been so very much worse...

So...upgrade time

Volvo Electric Power Steering Pump, Air Intake, and Serpentine Belt System modified

I will always do an upgrade if I can do it for the about same cost as an OE replacement. And I decided that with the issues with nearly all hydraulic replacement parts these days, I'd try the Electric route. This cost me about $450, give or take, and the OE pump is $380 before tax/shipping....so, easy decision for me.

Used a new Idler pulley from another model Land Rover, and a shorter belt. (Tried like 4 diff length belts before settling on this one. It puts the tensioner pulley at about 60% of its throw, which is pretty close to perfect)

New Idler P/N LR028879 (URO brand) New Belt P/N 4070834 (Continental Brand)

Old idler moved to other position

I already had upgraded my Alternator a while back to the 150A P38 version, so I'm not concerned about power issues. And I already had the air intake parts, so just had to repurpose them.

I sourced a Volvo C70 pump from eBay for about $240 taxed/shipped, with all its brackets and wiring connectors. I bought some 8ga wire, 60amp reset-able fuse, and assorted crimps, ends, etc. I only used the lower part of the Volvo bracket, didn't need the outer cage part, so you could likely get yours a bit cheaper knowing that.

I originally used the OE high side hose, and just curled it back to connect to the pump, fitting and threads were the same, and while it worked fine, it bothered me. So, I went to Pirtek, and they fabbed me up a new hose, and brazed on threaded ends to my original pump and gear hose ends, all for about $65. Now, my supply and return lines are about 12" each.

High and Low side hoses


While there was enough room to just mount the pump on top of the fender well, I decided to drop it down a bit by opening the hole that was under the original air box. This seems to have worked great, looks good (to me), and neither sway bar nor tire seem to get anywhere near it, so far...

I control the system with this $60 controller, which gives me the ability to turn the steering sensitivity up/down from inside the cab. There's even a perfect lil spot for the **** in the dash to the left of the steering wheel by the mirror adjust ****.
https://www.servtronic.com/products/volvo-hydraulic-electric-power-steering-controller-kit-volvo-c30-c70-s40-v50

I've only had it completed for about a week, but so far, the results are better than I'd hoped for. Steering feels great, and I can tune it to however I'm feeling that day. I seem to enjoy it being set to about 60-70%, which gives it a slightly heavier feel than stock. Turned to 100%, and it's easily equal to stock, if not a lil better, as I remember it anyway.

And another wonderful benefit... More Power!!! Yep, engine feels like the old cars did in the 70's when we'd finally get around to giving them a tune up, and maybe change the advance weights in the distributors... more pep, quicker acceleration, more power...all the good things. I expect my fuel mileage may also go up, but I'll report back about that after a few tanks worth to set a good average.

Anyway, sorry to the purists... and a big, have at it to my fellow modders.... IMO, so far anyway, this is an Awesome mod to do. Works frikn great, gives back horsepower, costs less to repair if needed, and will have more reliable parts availability than the OE pumps. Also gives the driver the option to change steering feel on the fly.

I can't speak to longevity yet, but I am monitoring temps and watching for leaks regularly. If needed in the future I will put a cooler on the low side line. But, as I've been monitoring it so far, fluid temps are well within specs, fluid is not changing color or cavitating, and the system is working consistently even after long drives in hot high altitude Colorado weather. I will report back honestly with both fuel mileage numbers, and reliability reports in the near future. Good luck, have fun with your Disco!!!

 

Thanks for the info! I’m glad to hear it worked out. I have to say that I’m a little suspicious of a huge power increase though. I know the PS Pump takes some power to run, but I wouldn’t have thought that it would be that noticeable.

 

Curious to see this application in an off-road setting. Would be nice to have that bit of extra power on steep obstacles or mud. But could be an issue with heavy winching and steering. Food for thought.

 

When I research the amount of HP that engines lose to the power steering pump, I'm seeing the general consensus as being between 8-10 HP at normal RPM levels and straight driving while on the HWY for most passenger cars. Of course, I'd assume it'd vary for each vehicle and engine, but, to say you'll have a 10 HP increase shouldn't be too far off. Also, most folks seem to report around a 2mpg increase in fuel mileage by getting rid of the OE pumps on most passenger cars, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Rover does in that regard.

Not sure about you, but I have noticed that most folks can feel a 10 HP increase in the seat of their pants. I'd say I got at least that much back, and maybe a couple more as it looks like my pump might have been having issues for some time, and I'd guess it was pulling more power from my engine than a good working pump would have. I know my engine bay is A LOT quieter now, it seems my old pump had been noisy as heck since I got the thing 3 years ago. So noisy, I wasn't able to track down the engine noise with my stethoscope, as it referenced throughout the entire engine. I thought this old engine was just naturally noisy. But nope, apparently these Rover pumps can still be working ok, but make the entire engine loud as heck, for years, and not fail, just be noisy. No more of that silliness for me....

That's an interesting thought experiment.... but I'm having a lil trouble understanding why you'd need to be steering wildly while using a winch? Most winching I've done, seemed to be moving along pretty slowly, with very little steering input, but maybe your experiences differ? I did put a manual fuse in the system, just in case I ran into a situation where I needed more of the batteries power and needed less steering assist, you know, for the just in case kinda situations....

Just to put it out there, these electric pumps only pull high amperage when under heavy loads, the rest of the time, they use very little power. So, unless you are forcing your steering into the lock for a long period of time, you'll never be pulling high amps. According to my research, the extra 30amps that the P38 alternator puts out over the D2 unit will be more than enough to handle this new appliance, reliably, easily. But again, I will be monitoring and reporting back here if my real world findings differ from my research, I have no desire to lead folks astray. My ego doesn't care if I'M right or not, just WHAT'S right, and what ACTUALLY works.

Another nice thing that may have benefits down the road....if for some reason my engine stops running....I still have power steering, as long as I have battery power. Can't say that with a belt driven pump...

 

As far as off road power steering use goes, it does use the most power when you’re slow and using the steering wheel a lot. On the highway PA really isn’t necessary at all.

 

Thanks for the great write-up. When my PS pump died I noticed that above 25mph you don't need any power steering. I could drive comfortably until I got into my driveway. Electric PS pump is on my bucket list. When I do it I will prefer a solution with a speed dependent pump control (will reduce electric power consumption significantly).

 

Exactly! I don't know why they list the HP usage as going straight while on the HWY, but that's all I could find. I'd think that'd be when you use the least amount of HP for the pump, but perhaps the high speed spinning of the pump due to engine RPM may have something to due with it, rather than actual usage of the steering gear. Regardless, I wasn't about to pull some random number out of the air to report about butt dyno numbers, lol. I just went with industry numbers. All I will say, regardless of how much actual HP gains, is that it is easily noticeable when driving that there is more engine power available at all RPM's.

I agree, PS is really only needed for low speed driving. Yet another reason to get rid of the OE pump, as it's drawing power from the engine at all RPM'S, all the time. The electric pump only draws more power when needed, due to load. Low load, low power use. I can watch the amp draw go up when hitting the steering lock, and be lower under little to normal use. So basically, it self regulates. The vendor I referred to also has a GPS controlled unit, that does exactly what your wanting. I'm just more confident in the manually controlled one I'm using, but there are other options out there. If you were very, very handy, you could tie the pumps CAN Bus into your speed sensor or speedometer, it can be done, but I'm just not looking to get that in depth with it at this point.

I just wanted to see if this would work at all, and to what extent. I did not plan on putting this information out there for at least a few months, while I continued testing and modifying. But, it has worked out so well, that I decided to just let 'er rip. At this point, the only thing I can see that may need to be done, would be the addition of a fluid cooler. Although, it's not seeming to be necessary for around town and hwy driving. Time will tell, and I will be updating the thread with any new found info.

Like I say, I have fun with this stuff, and I hope others do too. It's a hoot making something run better and be more reliable than it was before, for me anyway.

 

was looking at running a dodge or Chrysler 300 pump with a similar set up a while back but didn't pull the trigger bc well life haha. That said as someone with no fender liners there is no chance I'd be dropping the pump down into the well, other than that this looks great!

 

Don't think I have fender liners either. That spot has been open the whole time I've had mine, used to have my air intake above it. Maybe I should check a stock one out someday to see what parts mine has been missing, lol.

I was also planning on going the Chrysler pump route, but the prices for the pump, and a decent controller for it, are substantially more ($350 for pump, and another $350 for the controller). That pump also needs to lay down long ways, and would have been harder to fit in the space. This one stands up, leaves lot of room for other activities, and has the same connection size and thread pitch that the Rover already had. While I hear that the Chrysler pump puts out around 1700psi, and the Volvo pump puts out 1200psi, the OE Disco pump only puts out around 900psi, so, It seemed I'd be ok with running the Volvo pump, and saving lots of money and space. I was a lil nervous to try it, but, it worked, and IMO, works well, so far....

 

Using a different air box is problematic here (CA smog). I would prefer to keep the OEM air box in place. Is there a chance to put the Volvo pump into a different spot? How tall is the Volvo pump exactly?