New Power Steering Option

[djwarner]

Keep us informed on your progress Chris. BTW the control box on the unit can be easily removed and mounted in any convenient location if you need additional clearance.

The unit I bought included the shaft extension to mount the steering wheel and another extension with u-joints and a slip joint to penetrate the firewall. I plan on using the OEM Miata steering column, cutting off the rear end of its tube housing. Then I will use a tail pipe expanding mandrel to match the shoulder in the EPAS housing. Without a mating flange on the tube, I'll drill and tap the shoulder to secure the tubing. Photos to follow. 

[grannyknot]

23 minutes ago, djwarner said:

Keep us informed on your progress Chris. BTW the control box on the unit can be easily removed and mounted in any convenient location if you need additional clearance.

I tried taking  the brain box off the unit but noticed the white heat transfer grease, I'm assuming that the control box is using the gear housing as a heat sink to keep the electronics cool, those are 10ga wires coming and going from the unit.

[djwarner]

Bruno says he has instructions with photos on how to remotely mount the ECU box and to contact him. Unfortunately, the only way I know to contact him is through his eBay listing.

[djwarner]

I said I would offer some photos, so here are some. Yes my installation is for a Miata, but it may give ideas.

Here are the Vue and Miata steering columns

Here is the Vue EPAS  nose

Here is the Miata's

The shafts were easily removed after removing a C-ring.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Some of the Fiero folks have messed around with installing the Vue pump as well. Here's a thread from the Fiero forum that details one install. There might be some applicable tidbits in there. Things like cutting parts off the module/motor to reduce the size and make it easier to fit into place:

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/095326.html

 

[grannyknot]

DJ, I got Bruno's 'How To' from you and him at the same time, do you think he would mind if we included it in this thread?

I know the Saturn ECU box is removable but I'm hesitant to do it unless I can attach it to some other good chunk of metal to act as a heat sink. I think I will be able to use the stock Datsun steering shaft with a section out of the middle for the Saturn motor. The heater/blower fits in just fine with no interference.

 

[djwarner]

There's nothing magical or proprietary in his instructions and it would only serve to stimulate sales of his controller, so I guess he would not mind.

EPASInstructions_2.pdf

[grannyknot]

So I have it basically installed, I haven't received the wiring kit from Bruno yet but it is all lined up. If you don't have access to a lathe the shafts could be joined with a simple sleeve and bolts.

 

[grannyknot]

I received the wiring kit from Bruno, his instructions could use some work to make them clearer but it is pretty simple to figure out. Everything works perfectly, there is no assist with pot turned off and turning the wheel is effortless with the pot turned all the way up, everything in between is exactly the way you would think it should be. There is a funny little 1-2 second delay between changing the assist setting and the change in effort on the steering wheel but I only noticed it when going from full off to full on.

Very happy with it, will be a treat to use in tight parking or low speed maneuvers. Bruno's instructions say to wire the the motor up straight to the battery, shouldn't there be a fuse in there?

[dmorales-bello]

3 hours ago, grannyknot said:

shouldn't there be a fuse in there?

Nice work! With the Z Powersteering unit that I installed I placed a 50 amp inline fuse there. You would have to check the amp rating in your unit but more than likely a 30 amp fuse would do as well in your set up. I would not leave that line unprotected.

Edited October 14, 2016 by dmoralesbello

[djwarner]

My steering column came with a power cord and FSM documentation. The fuse is inline with the power cord. Documentation specifies a 60 amp fuse. I found an 80 amp fuse installed. Remember the fuse is there to protect the wire, not the device. Select a wire capable of supporting 60 amps. 

[EthanVass]

This is my first time ever posting anything on this forum before so I'm sorry in advance if I do something wrong.

I am planning to do this electric power steering conversion on my sr20 powered Datsun 240z and I was just wondering how you connected the input and output shafts of the motor to the original Datsun steering shaft. I saw that you said you used a lathe but could you give a little more information on the welding you did?

I was planning on just removing a section of the stock steering shaft then welding the input and output shafts of the motor directly to the stock steering shaft. Does anyone think I will have any issues doing this?