My power steering is pooped anyway, it sounds graunchy on full lock. checked the fluid and thats ok, but i really dont like power steering anyway. so rather than fix it, i'd rather get rid of it all together and have non power assisted steering.

What parts would i need to do the swap?

depends really, i recommend taking the belt off the pump and run round the block a couple of times, you'll soon change your mind :wonder:

to do it properly you need the rack, and steering column, it's an easy enough job to do

Isn't the PAS rack a higher ratio? Meaning Jon would be suffering more than he would with a manual setup?

Having said that, it's quite heavy with decent tyres on there on mine, so maybe better sticking with it!

thanks for the info guys. im used to running non power steering. my other car is an old polo and that doesnt have power steering, so im used to it being heavy (the polo has a smaller than std steering and wider wheels than std fitted most of the time!)

Im one of those strange people who absolutely hate power steering, I just dont get on with it at all. the steering just feels so vague!

Just out of interest and incase i do find the steering too heavy, can anyone advise as to why the steering will squeel during low speed turns, near the end of its travel? i'm guessing it would be the belt slipping? Are they self tensioning on the skoda? im not very clued up on power steering systems. it works fine when driving along and only does this when parking for example.

The pump is under a lot of load as you move towards full lock, so its likely that as you say, the belt is slipping when under this load. Once it starts to slip, then its difficult if not impossible to stop. Easiest solution would be to replace the belt, and it should stop the noise.

^^ yeah what he said... a replacement belt is about £15

ok final question, is it driven off the aux drive belt or does it have its own dedicated drive belt. im planning to do a timing belt change soon, so i guess it would be a good time to change that belt aswell.

time for me to start hoarding some parts and a haynes manual! thanks for all the help so far!

All one belt.

as a matter of interest is it a petrol or diesel one?

its a dirty derv machine

haha, you'll hate it without power steering then... dirty old lump of cast iron over the front wheels :wonder:

To save belt complications, if you do remove the system leave the pump on and remove the rotor segments, watch the back rollers for falling out, half fill with oil and seal it.

there is an alternative alternator mounting bracket you can use on that engine which is nomally fitted in industrial engines like generators etc, i've got the part number for it somewhere :yes:

it allows you to use a 'standard' belt (shorter than the pas one) with just the alternator and water pump

Edited 27 April, 201016 yr by TeflonTom

Part no. would be good if you can find it. Any idea on the tensioner system?

yeah they use a spring under the alterntor to force it outwards

@ g40jon,please keep the power steering we must advance as a spices.

also you may find that the squeeking is actually the crank pulley slipping , they are 2 peice with a rubber damper between them.

paint a line thru it from the centre to the outside and check it after a day to see if the line is still straight.. changed lots of these where as the belt usually works till it breaks

@ g40jon,please keep the power steering we must advance as a spices.

you must be the most advanced spice ever, you can type!

i have stronger arms than a spice, so i dont need power steering, its just another thing to go wrong.

felicia16v thanks for that top tip. i will give it a try when i have some spare time. got more pressing matters at the mo though like moving house (hence why i bought the cube) and going on my belated honeymoon! Once thats all out of the way I should have some spare time to play with the cube.

I would also like to get rid of my power steering.
How did it go g40jon?
Did you manage to remove it?

Come on guys fixing the power steering you've got is way less work than putting a new rack and column in. I've driven a unassisted 1.3L recetly and I'm not sure a diesel would be fun.....(I suppose you could put 145s on it).

Sent from my GT-I9100P using Tapatalk now Free

It's on my 1.3 felicia.

The power steering isn't broken, but I would like to remove it anyway.

 

There are people who have done this on other cars.

http://ecomodder.com/wiki/index.php/Power_steering_delete

I would like to know how to do this on a felicia.

* The powersteering rack, it's not optimal for manual steering ofcourse, but will it work?
* Would there be any problems with the aux-belt?
 

 

It's on my 1.3 felicia.

The power steering isn't broken, but I would like to remove it anyway.

 

There are people who have done this on other cars.

http://ecomodder.com/wiki/index.php/Power_steering_delete

I would like to know how to do this on a felicia.

* The powersteering rack, it's not optimal for manual steering ofcourse, but will it work?

* Would there be any problems with the aux-belt?

 

 

In order to make any economy gains you would have to stop driving the power steering pump which would I think require a shorter aux belt (and removing the pump).  

 

I don't know how feasible using the power steering rack without assistance is.

 

If economy is the aim you might consider fitting electric power steering (EPAS) from a Corsa B. This is often retrofitted on old camper vans and "classic" cars where a conventional PAS setup was never available. There's quite a lot of info on the web about this.

Interesting. I've been looking at Retro fitting PAS to my 1.3. Not worth the effort is the conclusion I've come to.

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In order to make any economy gains you would have to stop driving the power steering pump which would I think require a shorter aux belt (and removing the pump).  

 

I don't know how feasible using the power steering rack without assistance is.

 

If economy is the aim you might consider fitting electric power steering (EPAS) from a Corsa B. This is often retrofitted on old camper vans and "classic" cars where a conventional PAS setup was never available. There's quite a lot of info on the web about this.

 

Leaving aside any questions of how heavy the steering would be, it's a MOT failure to retain the PAS rack. http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_230.htm See reason #3a 

Would a shorter aux-belt do the trick? There wouldn't be any problems with a shorter belt, and the new path that the belt would travel?
I'm thinking also, that one would open up the pump and dissect it, removing all parts with friction, making it a freerolling wheel.
But this is only something that I want to do, if I can't use a shorter aux belt.

One could fit a electrical rig, but that would cost in investment and effort, probably not what I'm aiming for.
Plenty of people drive around in these cars without P/S, I see no reason why I couldn't do it as well.

On the question about the MOT, thanks for mentioning that, I will have to look up if this could be a problem here in Sweden.