Adding power steering to a 84 2.0L that never had it, can the engine even deal with p/s?

[neinnein_nein]

hi guys, so now that my 84 2.0L super base truck looks decent and has become pretty smooth and reliable, I decided I was gonna go nuts and try to add power steering before it gets too cold here in new york. I do most my work on the street but I have my parents garage when i drive home for the holidays and stuff, but I want to do it here and now.

so if I understand correctly, I need the following:

- brackets (2 of them, correct?) one for the pump one for the.. box?)
- ps gear box
- pump
- idler pulley
- belts
- lines
- ps cooling pump?

I live in nyc and for some reason I'm not super hopeful about finding a kit in a junkyard here. Most stuff I can get online with a bit of patience?

also where can i find photos of what the thing looks like assembled, I'll look around but maybe somebody has one handy..

also I wonder if the more difficult parts like the brackets wouldn't be interchangeable with something off another model maybe?

I don't even know if the 2.0L can manage PS.. only conversions I've seen are with 2.3 and 2.8L engines.

anyways, I hope it's doable, I'm pretty motivated..

 

[BlackBII]

The 2.0 and 2.3 share the same block, so I imagine the power steering pump bracket will bolt right up. You can likely use one from a Ranger, Mustang, Pinto, etc. You'll need a belt and pulleys from the same car you get the bracket from. I don't know if your engine has a serpentine setup now, but this would be a good opportunity to use a serpentine setup from a later Ranger.

The manual and power steering boxes bolt into the same place on the frame, so the power steering gear box will bolt right in. You will need to get a different steering shaft, as the manual and power steering gear boxes have different input shafts. The sector shaft is also different, which means you'll need the pitman arm as well.

There are two lines, one high pressure and one low pressure.

Here's some pics I found. You can likely use a bracket that includes the mounting points for AC even if you won't be using AC

Here's one without AC

 

[Dirtman]

I have no idea on the conversion itself. But power steering is one of the lowest power consumption accessories. Way less than AC obviously but also even less than an average alternator. The 2.0 isnt a power house lol, but I'd be shocked if you notice any difference after the conversion to power steering.

 

[neinnein_nein]

The 2.0 and 2.3 share the same block, so I imagine the power steering pump bracket will bolt right up. You can likely use one from a Ranger, Mustang, Pinto, etc. You'll need a belt and pulleys from the same car you get the bracket from. I don't know if your engine has a serpentine setup now, but this would be a good opportunity to use a serpentine setup from a later Ranger.

The manual and power steering boxes bolt into the same place on the frame, so the power steering gear box will bolt right in. You will need to get a different steering shaft, as the manual and power steering gear boxes have different input shafts. The sector shaft is also different, which means you'll need the pitman arm as well.

There are two lines, one high pressure and one low pressure.

Here's some pics I found. You can likely use a bracket that includes the mounting points for AC even if you won't be using AC

Here's one without AC

wow thanks for those diagrams! I see so the picture of the module without AC has a sort of extra bracket in place of the AC compressor to square everything together, right? I mean the thing resting on the alternator above the ps pump.

not sure if I have a serpentine setup, probably not, this is what it looks like under my hood. as you can see, lots of room for storing stuff at the moment! Might be wrong but it looks like the correct bracket would have to replace the one my alternator is bolted to and sort of expand to the right to include mounting points for ps pump and ac?

I began looking on ebay.. the pump, hoses and a remanufactured gear box seem pretty easy to come by but the right bracket and pulley sounds a little more tricky without access to a good junkyard. Wonder if Fairmont and Bronco II brackets could match visually. That's what I'm trying to do anyways. If anyone is uh, getting rid of ps brackets, please dm!

 

[BlackBII]

Ebay or junkyards will be your best bet for the bracket.

Is that a fuel pump sticking out of the block in your pic? It looks like that might be in the way a bit ?

Here's one that may work. It looks like you'll need the alternator one too though

Part number E57A-3F671-EA

EBAY

 

[Bird76Mojo]

You do have a serpentine belt system, but it also looks to have the single v-belt pulley that usually ran a small smog pump. There's also an extra serpentine pulley on your crankshaft pulley which is odd..

 

[bobbywalter]

i would look at black betty's steering setup or petroleum junkies.....


pjs setup would make swapping powersteering in very easy.

 

[neinnein_nein]

Ebay or junkyards will be your best bet for the bracket.

Is that a fuel pump sticking out of the block in your pic? It looks like that might be in the way a bit ?

yeah the brass colored thing’s the mechanical fuel pump..

i think I found a donor truck at this place rockitauto in WI from which I’d bought heather controls before, they’re sending me a bracket, the box and looking into the steering shaft for me. I’ll ask for the alternator one too then, thanks for pointing this out!

There's also an extra serpentine pulley on your crankshaft pulley which is odd..

Yeah it’s weird there was nothing on that extra pulley when I bought the truck 2.5 years ago. I thought it was for ac at first but it says somewhere “cooling system not equipped for ac” so who knows..

i would look at black betty's steering setup or petroleum junkies.....


pjs setup would make swapping powersteering in very easy.

Cool I’ve never heard of any of these. Will look it up!

 

[neinnein_nein]

i would look at black betty's steering setup or petroleum junkies.....


pjs setup would make swapping powersteering in very easy.

Any links to those setups you could point to? I’m curious!

 

[neinnein_nein]

alright so this is what I'm getting:

plus a remanufactured pump+pulley+pump cap, a ps gearbox with pitman arm and the bottom part of steering shaft that connects to my steering column, the two hoses.

is the ps cooler important or should I not bother?

also not sure about the belt I need to hook up this thing..

 

[adsm08]

Any links to those setups you could point to? I’m curious!

Volvo EPAS Conversion

After the Trail Ride, I realized with the encouragement of @AgPete139 , @Jim Oaks and @bobbywalter that I really need to get this article finished. Posting the incomplete version for review. Want to get it finished up over the next few days. AgPete and @lil_Blue_Ford drove it. They can report...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Hey, I'm alive!

Yes, it works.

Very easy to do, and pump is small. Will be working on finishing the write up this weekend.

I have it tucked down where my charcoal canister used to be, drivers side of fender well and bolted to the core support

I can only hear it run at idle and it's very quiet.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

To do the swap, you need to find a volvo donor, or get one of the pumps from eBay. I went into the wild this week to get one, and mostly to take photos for the tech section. Shipped the one in the photos to its new owner. Looks like we're soon to have two EPAS Rangers running around. ??




This is a particular Volvo that can be used as a donor:

EPAS pump in its original location, passenger side bumper cover. Only parts that have been removed are the bumper cover and foam impact pad. Forgive my sawzall hackery. Wanted to show everything as clearly as possible.

AC components removed:

Make sure to cut the hoses in the rubber sections and keep the metal ends. Critical that you do this. The pump fitting is a metric 16x1.5 flared o ring. Amazon sells an adapter if you cannot get that part. Note the FoMoCo brand stamp on the pump and hoses:

Also critical to take as much of the wiring harness as humanly possible. You'll have two pigtail connectors, one for the pump speed, the other for pump main power. Without these pigtails, you'll be forced to get them from Volvo. Prices range from $25-90.

Mazda 3 also uses a similar pump, as well as the Toyota MR2. The Mazda pump uses an alternator sense wire instead of a power wire. At some point I'm going to snag a Mazda pump to test and see if it's better than the Volvo one. I know almost nothing about the Toyota one, other than they are very expensive.

My favorite thing about the swap is that I still have power steering if the engine is off. Also it removes the parasitic load of the pump from the engine, which is always good.

Only downsides are that they take a bit of power (up to 79 amps) to run at full lock, and they can be a bit sluggish in a parking lot. I have a 3g alternator swap on mine though, so power has never been an issue. The parking lot thing was a tad frustrating at first, but I don't even notice it now. Just turn the wheel.a little slower.

Other thing that's really nice is the amount of road feel they give. Makes the teuck much easier to handle on the highway. I don't get blown around by tractor trailers, and I don't have to correct the wheel when I hit a pot hole; there's enough resistance in the box to keep the wheels pointed.

 

[neinnein_nein]

To do the swap, you need to find a volvo donor, or get one of the pumps from eBay. I went into the wild this week to get one, and mostly to take photos for the tech section. Shipped the one in the photos to its new owner. Looks like we're soon to have two EPAS Rangers running around. ??

br00tal!!

man I'm still trying to figure out ps basics here but I'm definitely down for attempting this once the article is posted. I still gotta put in a gearbox and figure out the steering shaft thing over here so I'll be busy. but I'm def.... "pumped" ? ?

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

br00tal!!

man I'm still trying to figure out ps basics here but I'm definitely down for attempting this once the article is posted. I still gotta put in a gearbox and figure out the steering shaft thing over here so I'll be busy. but I'm def.... "pumped" ? ?

Pretty basic system, but takes some getting used to.

Real mechanics around here will explain it much better than I, but it's essentially just a hydraulic pump pushing against both sides of a gear set.

I know very little about hydraulics. Don't care for hydraulic systems; I always wind up taking a bath in the stuff.

But no matter how you look at it, hydraulic power steering is just a pump, a high pressure hose, a return line, and a box that uses gears and ball bearings to do sorcery. Doesnt matter what the pump is, as long as the supplied volume and pressure is close enough.

BlackBII has one hell of a power steering mod as well, but it requires some fab work. Worth looking in to.