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If you are considering adding a Borgeson power steering setup and don't have room to add a power steering pump or don't want to mess with your accessory belts, you can use an electric power steering pump to supply fluid to the Borgeson.
I use a power steering pump from a Volvo. The Volvo pump has it's own fluid reservoir and all it needs to run is 12V battery power, a good ground and a low power 12 volt connection to an ignition or accessory wire to turn it on. Like normal power steering pumps it has a supply and return line, but unlike normal pumps it can placed anywhere.
I mounted the pump in the location where the vapor canister used to be. It's hidden away and can barely be seen from the engine bay. In the volvo, it has a two part mount with rubber isolaters. I threw away the upper part of the mount and tied the lower part of the mount to the frame.
The high pressure outlet is 16mm x 1.5, same as the return of the Borgeson., but the Volvo one is deeper.
The return line is plastic barb that fit a 3/8" hose.
The ignition signal wire that turns the unit on only draws 2.2 milliamps, so any 12V signal can drive it.
I tested the pump with a power supply instead of the battery and it only drew about 20 amps while turning the wheel in default mode. Just under 10 amps when not turning.
I got mine fro a 2006 Volvo S40 for $30 at a pick and pull. They are in 2004 - 2012 cars. I've been told that the same pump is used in C70 and many other models as well.
The Red wire goes to a fuse and directly to the battery. I use one of those separate MAXI fuse holders and a 80 amp fuse. The Black wire to a good chassis ground. The two twisted wires are not connected, they were for canbus but are not needed as this pump works fine in default mode. The small green wire goes to ignition or accessory or you can just connect it to a switch and turn the pump on manually. When the pump is turned on, there is about a 2 second delay before it starts up. The pump motor is a 3 phase brushless motor and the pump draws less current when no steering input is needed and more when turning.
I've been running this combo for over 800 miles already. It's working flawlessly.
For me the steering feel with this combo is perfect and it doesn't feel overpowered on the highway and I can easily turn the steering wheel when it's parked.
Very cool. I just put a Vue column in my corvette. Unfortunately, it is a power rack and the lines are uncorked. This would have made a good alternative.
Thats a cool setup. We built an electric power steering setup for a 2010 twin turbo camaro we built. It was expensive due to the parts we used but it works great. We control it with the holley ecm in the car.
No vibration at all with the original rubber mounts. You can definitely hear it wind up with the engine off.
Come to think of it, I'll bet the stock ls power steering pumps wines the same way as the electric one, only you can never hear it because the engine is always on when the pump is running. With the engine on, you can't hear it.
I might have to give this a shot with my LSA install, though the guy in the second video advises against running one for autocross.
I also love auto-crossing, but in my BMWs.
With that said, I just went to the garage to do an experiment in the Vette. I turned on the pump with the car parked and engine off, battery at 12.2 volts. Keep in mind with the car parked, my front tires are very large, so there is alot of load on the wheels when I turn the wheel. I also did the same experiment with the car on and and battery at 14.1. Same results.
With slow movements back and forth, the pump turned the wheels easily.
With brisk movements back and forth, the pump turned the wheels easily.
Once I started moving the wheel back and forth very aggressively, like in a tight slolum, there was more resistance to turning the wheel. It turned, but it appeared that the pump couldn't keep up with the rate of the demand.
Keep in mind that the pump is running in default mode.
I would have to summarize that for most driving and even course racing, the pump seems fine. For most of the autocross race, it might be enough but for slolums, I think the default mode of the pump may not be enough.
I would ask someone with a borgeson and a conventional pump to do the same experiment and let us know how that works out.
If I get into an open parking lot where i can do the same experiment while the car is moving, I'll try it and let you know how it turns out.
If I was autocrossing this car, I would definitely want more pump for the slolums. I would probably keep the pump and work on the can bus messages that to make the pump work harder when autocrossing. I don't have plans for ever autocrossing this car, so my priorities can't justify this extra effort right now. However, if someone gets me the can bus message content for the volvo pump, I would try to implement them in my vette with my can bus simulator and let you know how it works out. Then I'd document the electronics and code to run this pump for autocross mode or even speed sensitive mode.
09-05-2019, 12:48 PM
Borgeson Electric Power Steering 
