Quote:
Originally Posted by The Crowing
No.
While the PS pump IS always "pumping" when the engine is running, it's not actually doing anything when you aren't turning. When you turn the wheel, passages in the rack open and route the fluid to push against certain parts within the rack, left or right, respectively.
When cruising, AKA going straight, the pump is hardly doing any work at all, not draining the engine at all.
On top of that, it's bad for an automatic steering system to be driven like a manual steering car. There's a pencil thick torsion bar within the steering rack, and without fluid pressure, you put a lot of strain on that bar. You can feel through the wheel just how hard it is to turn, now imagine all that force on a pencil thick metal bar. Ker-snap? Yes.
If you're "feeling" an HP gain from your PS pump being disengaged, then there are one of two things happening:
1) You have some form of resistance within the pump itself that is causing friction and fighting the engine.
2) You've established a placebo effect and your butt dyno is agreeing.
As far as a Legend without a power steering option? It's an Acura luxury car. What do you think?
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I'd tend to agree with you.
It does kind of make me scratch my head because there is a noticable difference. I'm not that crazy.
My PS pump has been making one of those "Push-Chew" noises in recent months which led me to believe it on the way out. Might even explain the belt problem to some degree. So, it's entirely possible the pump was actually producing drag when none is normal.
Then again, the system does need to pressurize upon start, I'd imagine. That noise did eventually dissipate. How long that process normally takes may be a question because mine did take several minutes. And, this event did occur within minutes of startup, but was shortly after another run which had the car warm.
Don't know, but it still feels light on its' feet without the belt. Haven't done the work yet due to weather. I've almost acclimated to the steering, which is only really hard when the car isn't moving. At highway speeds, it's normal.
I think they actually refer to this as "power assisted" steering, meaning it only works at low speeds and backs off as speed increases.