The Project Pad

Hello. Most of the time I've been a lurker here on The Project Pad, and on Motorgeek too, but there's been some fun projects recently that are worth sharing.

First on the agenda, electric hydraulic power steering. I need/want the space in front of the engine taken up by the pump belt for crossover intercooler piping. Went with a Volvo unit off eBay because of the integrated reservoir, same CHF fluid, price, and wiring ease. The vendor was willing to include the cut electrical connectors and hose ends. This should make integration fairy straightforward because I don't need to hunt for the right connections.

Removing engine in new garage.


Volvo pump.


Testing the unit before leaving any eBay feedback...powers on just fine. This unit is simple to wire: battery, ground, and switched ignition.


It's a bit larger than I was expecting. Going to spend this weekend testing fitment with the engine and devising brackets.


Unlikely to fit into the stock reservoir location.


Updates as progress is made...

Sweet project, looking forward to updates!

Cleaning the equipment helps me visualize space in the engine bay better. Cleaned both the outside and inside of the rack with gasoline and refilled with fresh fluid. Rack wear looked fine, but lots of old green Pentosin and silt came out when flushing.

very well done, i like simplicity in it! keep us updated!

ps: whats the part number, or what volvo came with it? thx!

Love me a 4k!

Where abouts in NY?

This particular pump is labeled 5N51 3K514 AE and from a C30/V40/V70, but any Volvo electric pump that has these same 2 electrical connectors are reported to work. There are both local and remote reservoir versions.

Info I got on this stuff was mainly from these threads:
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/volvo-electro-hydraulic-power-steering-44828.html
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/volvo-parts-ordering-question/77876/page1/

thank you for the info.

i had a little time so i did some research on this volvo pump/steering aka: EHPAS (Electro Hydraulic Power Assisted Steering)
luckily no extra control module needed, because its integrated on the unit itself, and it want to talk on the CAN bus system.....
it might work without the CAN bus but im sure its function will be limited
Increase assist - message for fast steering wheel movement from the steering wheel angle sensor
Decrease assist - high vehicle speed message from the BCM

also, Maximum assist pressure is 120 bar, a bit too mush for small chassis cars, around 100bar
do you have any other info? did you test yours yet?
Thank you!

The pump operates without CAN signals, albeit at one speed where drawn amperage is dependent on steering load (5-60A). Other pumps have drawbacks similar to this, with the exception being the second generation MR2 pump that has a regular vehicle speed sensor input. The drawback there is that they're popular and therefore expensive.

Working on the brackets now. Yeah, the unit "works," but I've only powered it on without lines/fluid/load. Need more time and better fabricating skills.

I understand it works as a basic pump, but we will miss a lot without the signals

That is a nice project and upgrade. Can't wait to see more on the installation. I assume it frees up some engine power as well since the pump is no longer belt driven.

varia wrote:I understand it works as a basic pump, but we will miss a lot without the signals

That's correct - we will be missing out on the noise reducing and energy saving features without CAN signals. The pump runs at 100% without these inputs.

There is a good post from the electric car forums:

Re: Volvo electro hydraulic power steering wrote:Hi I have completed all of the hydraulic modifications of the pump to fit my donor vehicle. Alfa 156. I am running the pump in "backup mode" and the steering feels great. No canbus integration. It starts up at full power, and then slowly rev's down to what might be about 70-80% power. With no load on the steering it draws only 6 amps, and when I turn the steering wheel, with the car stationery, it draws about 20-25 amps. Only when the steering gets to full lock and you keep pressure on the steering wheel, you can hear the motor revs drop as there is probably no circulation of fluid does the pump draw 70-75amps of current.

So for now I am quite happy with its performance. I haven't driven faster than 40km/h so I don't know what the steering will feel like at highway speed. I am busy building battery boxes, so will do a faster road test soon. If the steering feels good I will leave it with no can bus. The Alfa's original pump ran off a pulley so would have had no electronic control over how fast the steering wheel is being turned, or the vehicle speed. You could be driving slow at high revs, or fast at low revs.

Found some time today to make the 4000 front clip removable. Always wanted to do this! Still need to decide on the location and number of fasteners to use, but I might try to fill the drilled-out pinch weld holes with weld and grind flat before anything else. Taking off the fenders for the first time is not fun.

Still working on the bracket for the electric power steering pump...keep getting sidetracked with other tasks.

Got some close up pics of the piece that connects to the frame rail?

I drilled out my spot welds, but on my urq the tow hook has a bugger of a weld thats different than the 4kq

Minor update. I've never seen this mentioned anywhere, but here's some pictures of OEM and Victor Reinz intake gaskets. These show the orientation/direction/side of the exhaust gaskets that make everything fit without interference or overlap.

I asked one of the shop guys I work with to look at the exhaust manifold and he welded it in about 20 seconds. Manifold was already torqued to the head, so that was quick and convenient. The intake manifold needed material removed to fit with the phenolic spacer - die grinder and a flap wheel for that. Head was then fully assembled and attached to the block. Car has been apart basically since I moved here, looking forward to spending more time on it this weekend. Goal is to be driving it again before summer ends.

very cool project. always thought the alpine white cars looked the best. looking forward to more updates

Still a slow summer for working on cars. Pressure regulator installed and plumbed. Had to assemble a fuel rail bracket; the purchased 034 brackets were way too tall for the application. Painted a bit too.

Nice project & admire your work. One comment, GET SOME JACK STANDS! We all would like to see more pictures of your project. Please be safe for your future.
Chris

The engine is missing a hilarious number of sensors and has every orifice open to atmosphere, but there's life in the 3B'd 20v. Wanted to ensure the ECU could power up and communicate before wiring it properly

https://youtu.be/eYVlH15vl3Q

Dang I really like how you made the front removable. I am afraid to cut mine up but I know I am going to be mad next time I have to pull my engine... Giving me ideas

Added a few more sensors and plugged all the vacuum leaks. Idles well now! Went through a few heat cycles to ensure the original 4k radiator fan control was operating correctly, and also verified the oil pressure with a mechanical gauge. Using a V8 oil cooler and discovered they only flow in one direction - had it backwards and oil wasn't getting to the head.

Still missing the boost control, throttle position, altitude, and knock sensors. Happy with the way it idles though, so time to take it apart and wire it for real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1gMbkPMOXk

Overdue update...newfound urgency to get the car road-tested before salt. Putting the electric pump aside for now. There's probably 5 months of garage confinement during the winter where I can pick that back up. I focused on reassembling the front end with plans to drive the car daily for a few weeks.

Spent a lot of time on the climate control. Box disassembled, cleaned, reassembled with new foam and core. A little bit of Simple Green thrown in the high-temp dishwasher cycle cleaned the plastic nicely. Exact-replacement heater core was Nissens 73940.


Turbo plumbing isn't solved yet, and the intercooler setup is a mystery, but for road testing this simple setup works.


MAF/breather/bypass plumbing is also not solved. The OEM 3B hose is too large, as the 20v turbo sits so far forward. Running without bypass for now, and the breather is open to atmosphere. Grabbed some random Saab piping from the Pick-n-Pull that's correctly shaped, more or less...



In typical 20v fashion, the once orderly engine bay is again a complete mess. There are a few sections of the 3B harness that need to be lengthened or shortened to fit the 20v. Crimps for now, soldering and clean-up over the winter.



Here's what the engine bay looks like now.


As for driving it, I have put on 20 miles around the neighborhood so far. And, it's really exciting! The 3B Motronic controls the motor well, no codes observed. The wastegate is not connected to the N75 yet, so boost pressure is only spring pressure. Quick car though! It was 80F last week, started right up. 30F last night, also started right up. With no bypass valve the MAF gets confused...nowhere for the air to go, so it blows reverse past the MAF and OUT of the intake if the turbo was spooled. Need to fix this. Nice whooshing turbo sounds though.

Great results at this point. Main thing I've got to work on now is some custom plumbing for the pre-turbo and MAF components.

Nice

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The motor had low idle oil pressure when warm, so it's been removed once again and has been disassembled for plastigauging and bearing replacement.

Came across this interesting figure in the 5000/200 Bentley manual while looking up the bearing tolerances. Cobbled up a pressure tester for the oil jets (aka oil squirters) and found them to be way out of spec. Worst one was opening around 2psi and the best were around 18. Going to soak and clean them, then retry.





Edit: I removed the oil jets from a few other blocks and found they had some slight differences. They apparently all share the same part number 035103157B. My only guess is that they removed their idle pressure control feature in later blocks in favor for the block check valve behind the oil pressure sensor.

MC1: Small check ball, holds 20psi, large nozzle
MC2: Large check ball, holds no pressure, large nozzle
AAN: Large check ball, holds no pressure, small nozzle

Left to right in the photo: MC1, AAN, MC2