Power steering fix 100% working.

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Monkulas
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Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by Monkulas »

Hello all,

After months and months of power steering issues that i just could not resolve, after replacing the p/s ecu twice, p/s power controller, 2 pumps, one loom, 3 pump tops, alternator, main earth cable, fluid change, leak check, wiring checking,voltage checking, steering position sensor, speed sensor ect

Some days it would work someday it wouldn't. Sometimes would turn on full! mid roundabout :shocked:
One day works fine in the morning then go to park up and work and it turns off :ranting1:

Tired every relay trick in the book, ign on off 20 times, relay bypass, tapping relay, banging relay, washing it, shouting at it, plus multiple relays standard and non standard.
Still never worked correctly after all that. :ranting1:

I decided to have ago at making my own motor controller circuit. Turns out you can buy high amperage motor controllers in a compact form. :) Image

So i wired it to a beefy 200amp relay via some 8awg wire. Havent checked the amp draw on full lock yet but im certain it draws less than 40amps. I will be measuring the current draw and fitting a suitable fuse. Also extended the potentiometer wiring into the cabin (used to control pump speed). (small dial) Image

The wiring for the voltage controller is extremely simple. It has power (via relay) and ground (from body) IN. Power and ground OUT to the motor. 5 wires to the potentiometer.(voltage regulators dont even get warm)Image

The relay is wired to turn on with ignition power. But could be turned on with any 12v source of your choosing.The relay allows power to the voltage regulators, but can also be turn on and off via the poteniometer if you turn it all the way down it will click and turn off the pump. Image

Voltage regulator housing is attached to the top of the pump using a spare L shape bracket.Image

No longer need the ecu and power control. ;) Image

Have yet to go on a really long drive with it in place. Been about 20 mile so far, no issues to report :)
The potentiometer gives you very accurate control over the pump, you can set it at max speed or off completely (good for motorway) or anywhere in between. Its pretty cool, kinda like the 'city' button in modern cars but better!.

One or two people have asked if i could make a 'kit' for them :notworthy:. I think i could do it if i had more time to make them, plus if i could make it Plug and play would be sweet.

In conclusion: I wish i had done this a year ago instead of speding ££££££ on the power steering system that was never going to work. Missed out on a lot of fun driving because of it.

But now i have a fully working system that i can control with ease.Image

PS. The speed sensor and steering angle sensor could be intergarted into this, but the whole point was to keep it simple. Maybe in the future. :th:


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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by Howlin_Mad »

Nice work :th:

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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by pbmr2 »

Excellent work!
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Monkulas
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by Monkulas »

Many thanks ^^^
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by JayUK91 »

Let me guess, you have a HTC One? I recognise that horrid purple hue anywhere.
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by shinny »

Good initiative there... I've had a long saga of power steering issues too (which I eventually reverse engineered my way out of) and know exactly how frustrating they are. However I would not yet call that a full fix. The stock system turns off at high speed so driving the car isn't sketchy on the motorway; your system needs manual intervention to achieve the same thing. Make it react to the road speed (which I know is much easier said than done) and then I would then say you'd made something very good :th:
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by Monkulas »

shinny wrote:Good initiative there... I've had a long saga of power steering issues too (which I eventually reverse engineered my way out of) and know exactly how frustrating they are. However I would not yet call that a full fix. The stock system turns off at high speed so driving the car isn't sketchy on the motorway; your system needs manual intervention to achieve the same thing. Make it react to the road speed (which I know is much easier said than done) and then I would then say you'd made something very good :th:

That is the next step. Finding out how to use the speed signal to control the potentiometer. Im pretty sure i would need a micro controller, unfortunately thats the limit of my electrical knowledge.I wouldn't know how to program one. or reverse engineer the stock p/s ecu. If you could give me some know how that would be awesome.

But for now setup does work and its extremely simple. :)
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by shinny »

Yup, a microcontroller would be the obvious way to do it. It might not be impossible to design an analogue circuit to do the job though. Either way, it's not straightforward and I do't blame you for not having jumped straight into the full solution.
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by Protok »

I very much like this solution, it will certainly save a few MR2's power steering as the parts are getting a bit scarce now.
Have you thought of putting it on a rocker switch instead of the potentiometer? You would basically have; on, off and something in between.

I could imagine I could use this with my ECU, ECU sends the speed signal and the power steering is adjusted accordingly.
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by Monkulas »

Protok wrote:I very much like this solution, it will certainly save a few MR2's power steering as the parts are getting a bit scarce now.
Have you thought of putting it on a rocker switch instead of the potentiometer? You would basically have; on, off and something in between.

I could imagine I could use this with my ECU, ECU sends the speed signal and the power steering is adjusted accordingly.
Yeh i could fit a rocker switch. All though i do like being able to fine tune the pump speed.

You need a way of interpreting the speed pluses. Maybe a 0-12v pwm controller ?.
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by Protok »

Monkulas wrote:
Protok wrote:I very much like this solution, it will certainly save a few MR2's power steering as the parts are getting a bit scarce now.
Have you thought of putting it on a rocker switch instead of the potentiometer? You would basically have; on, off and something in between.

I could imagine I could use this with my ECU, ECU sends the speed signal and the power steering is adjusted accordingly.
Yeh i could fit a rocker switch. All though i do like being able to fine tune the pump speed.

You need a way of interpreting the speed pluses. Maybe a 0-12v pwm controller ?.
I wouldn't need it, I'd just use an output on my ECU and program it to the relevant voltage.
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MR2BRU

Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by MR2BRU »

Like the look of this! :clapping:

Would this do the job? Plus a relay for the power feed obviously.



Cheers,

Bru :th:
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Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by Monkulas »

MR2BRU wrote: 11/10/18 19:41 Like the look of this! :clapping:

Would this do the job? Plus a relay for the power feed obviously.





Cheers,

Bru :th:
This could be made to work. My motor controller only went up the 12v. I wouldnt like to push the pump to 30v!. :no:

My setup had very fine pump speed control (0v to 12v). The motor controller you have linked starts at 12v. So the your minimum pump speed would be my maximum.

It would be like having super light steering at all speeds.

Try to find one that outputs 0-12v.
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MR2BRU

Re: Power steering fix 100% working.

Post by MR2BRU »

Monkulas wrote: 11/10/18 21:54
This could be made to work. My motor controller only went up the 12v. I wouldnt like to push the pump to 30v!. :no:

My setup had very fine pump speed control (0v to 12v). The motor controller you have linked starts at 12v. So the your minimum pump speed would be my maximum.

It would be like having super light steering at all speeds.

Try to find one that outputs 0-12v.

Thanks for that! I'll have another look and see what I can find, where did you get yours from?

Cheers,

Bru :th:
Last edited by MR2BRU on 12/10/18 22:02, edited 2 times in total.

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