power steering pump

Hi All, I have an 87 turbo with an LT1 in it. I believe out of a 93 or 94 Camaro. Its been stroked to 383 and built. But it still has the Camaro accessory belt setup with the reverse rotation power steering pump. I bought the car as a running swapped car with a blown gearbox. The conversion is at least 10 years old. Iv'e changed the gearbox, it runs and drives, I am now working out all the other problems with a car that's been sitting around with a blown trans for a few years.

One of those problems is the power steering. Its really heavy. I assumed a bad pump and replaced it, but no change. I then read that the Porsche rack needs 1500 psi, and the LT1 pump puts out 1300 psi. that sound right to the rest of you?

Spoke to turn one, he tells me these reverse rotation pumps are difficult to find in good enough shape to rebuild (and the one I have is most likely not genuine GM, so not rebuildable). he advised changing to a different accessory belt system so I can use off the shelf new pumps. I don't think that's doable as most of the aftermarket accessory setups mount everything way too high, or in places that I don't have the space (and they cost $1500....). He is willing to give it a try if I can find a GM pump to rebuild, but stressed that's its a bit of a crap shoot as to wether they are usable/rebuildable at this age.

I considered depowering in the interest of simplicity, but I want to keep the A/C compressor. that means I cant scrap everything and run just an alternator (and use the cheap kits that do this). so I would have to then run a P/S pump as an idler. that's a pain in the ass for a host of reasons I don't want to get into, but its a non starter for me. Further I am on manual brakes, and want to go Hydroboost at some point. So I'd really rather keep the P/S pump for that as well (though the all electric brake booster and master kit from "abs power brakes" is an option as well).

So, Questions.

Am I correct in thinking my current stiff steering is due to the wrong pressure from this stock LT1 pump?

Its much lighter running than it is when off, but still pretty heavy. Is there a chance I need to rebuild my (not leaking) steering rack as well?

Are any of you just using the stock chevy P/S pump with the porsche rack and getting decent performance?

What are the rest of you doing for all this? any of you running the reverse rotation P/S pump, with functioning A/C and hydroboost?

Is there an alternative accessory belt setup I don't know about that will fit under the hood of this thing and solve some of these problems? Possibly a compressor and alternator only setup and I'll go back to depowering the rack?

and finally, and this is just me wishing, does anyone have a low mileage reverse rotation genuine GM P/S pump they want to sell so Turn one can work their magic on it for me?

Just buy a reman LT1 pump from the local autoparts stores. They're readily available and cheap. That's what I run in my '85 944 with an LT1, F-body accessories, stock power steering rack, and hydroboost brakes. Works great.

You only need to upgrade to a Turn One pump if you're tracking the car and having problems boiling the fluid.

Ah, so my stiff steering must be in the rack then. That is enlightening. So you are running both systems on a stock LT1 pump? I’d been told the 944 rack required higher pressure, and I’d heard the same for the hydro boost. Perhaps, as you say, that’s only needed on the track.

Anyway my pump is new. Less that 100 miles on it. Rack doesn’t leak, but the steering is pretty heavy. Must be the rack then. I’ve got a spare rack on the way to me now. I’ll get a rebuild kit, rebuild it, and throw that in and see if that fixes it. Thanks very much.

Yes, a regular old autoparts store reman LT1 pump runs my power steering and hydroboost.

What kind of powersteering reservoir does your car have? I run a remote reservoir by PSC. It aids in cooling and anti-foaming of the fluid.

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These systems can be hard to bleed all of the air out if them. It results in stiff steering until all the air gets worked out.

Rebuilding the rack is usually just to fix leaks.

I am just using the stock 944 reservoir. I’m pretty sure it’s all bled but I must admit I hadn’t given it much thought. I don’t get any noise from the steering but the last time I looked at the fluid with the engine running it was a bit cloudy/foamy now that I think about it. Don’t really know what else I could do to bleed it other than what I have though. Obviously I’ve cranked from full left to right a few times.

Another thing to check is that the steering shaft's u-joints are free and not binding. I replaced the power steering pump on my BMW E46 when the steering got stiff all of a sudden and it turned out to be the steering shaft ujoints were the issue. After a shot of WD40 on them, my power steering was back.

Please check out my VATS post Rob.

I have been running an original, 1996, LT1 pump with Hydroboost for 18 years. I do not have any issues, other than the pump has become a little noisy.

I would look at the plumbing, rack, and the pump itself for output.

As it happens just over the weekend I had the nose off the ground for other reasons so tried the steering with the wheels free. and now there is no discernible difference as to feel when the engine is running or not. Further the fluid in the reservoir is dead calm in both cases. I have a feeling my "new", 3 month old P/S pump has just burned up very quickly.

Prior to this test, I'd already found and mailed a pair of OE GM pumps to turn one in the hope that one of them is rebuild-able.

And on top of all that, it feels notchy, not just stiff, so I am VERY suspect the steering shaft U joints may be a problem as well. I'll soak them with WD-40 or similar and see if that changes anything.

and of course I am aware the plumbing could be the cause as well, but it all looks ok so far. I'll wait until the Turn one pump is back and get into this again once I know I have decent pressure.