Fitting power steering to 2000TC

B

barrywi

New Member
I suppose this has been covered here before but after a tense muscle bending few minutes trying to park up my newly acquired Rover 2000TC I was wondering if it is possible to retro fit the power steering off the 3500 to my car and if anyone had any tips as to how to go about it?
 
It has been done, and has been covered on here pretty recently so you should be able to find that thread using the Search function.

In fact a pic has just been posted on another thread with PAS fitted.

download/file.php?id=6277
 
I just typed POWER STEERING CONVERSION into search and came back with 63 matches, and so it should be in there somewhere as I remember the thread running very recently.

The PAS box bolts straight on, the wiper moter may need to have a passenger side one fitted, and you need to either make brackets and a belt drive to run a mechanical pump, or use a late electro-hydraulic unit to run it.
 
barrywi said:
Time to assess and decide waht to do next.
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In the meantime, get your tyre pressures right, grease the balljoints and adjust the steering box as it says in the manual. You'll be amazed at the difference! I was, and now I can park my 2000TC one-handed. I've heard the power steering is quite vague and the manual box gives more feedback and a positive action, so it's worth finding out how light you can make the manual box before swapping it for something that may be less precise on the move. A lot of it is getting out of the habit of dry steering and getting the car rolling first. Easier said than done if you're driving a modern through the week, but it'll save your tyres as well as your muscles!!

Michael
 
The 4-cylinder P6 I've driven a fair bit with power steering fitted is over-light and over corrective IMHO.

Go through the tyre pressures/steering box stuff before getting drastic.

Later cars (in particular 2200's) with the Burman box on them are heavier to steer, but also excellent directionally at speed.
 
Thanks again for the suggestions. I took my tyres up to 28 psi( no improvement!) . There are no ball joints to grease but I will check the oil level in the steering box and when I can find another jack I will get the front wheels in the air and fiddle with the steering box. There is nothing in the manual about the steering idler needing filling after a brief glance.
 
It's funny how you look at complicated solutions( well I do!!) when you should check the simple things first.
The car has a very good service record but obviously nobody bothered to check the oil in the steering box ( me included) after a quick check I could not see the surface of any oil in it, so I topped it up and was very surprised how much oil went in. It must have taken nearly a pint so no wonder it felt heavy. I have no tried a reverse parking challenge yet but am convinced that the steering has lightened a tremendous amount. It feels a lot more stable at 60mph , not needing the continual adjustment it used to need. i will now try adjusting the steering box as per the manual next.
Thanks again for all your help in tracing the source of the problem. All I need now is the smell of all the waxoyl I have put on the car to go away and some sunshine and i can enjoy the car. Electronic ignition is the next project.
 
barrywi said:
i will now try adjusting the steering box as per the manual next.
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Always do the simple things first, otherwise you just end up needlessly digging yourself into a hole that you can't get out of.

Don't follow the procedure in the book to adjust the box. It tells you to do it with the wheels in the air which makes it virtually impossible to dstinguish the point at which the free play ends, and the wheels start moving. Do it on the ground (after checking for any worn steering joints) and then once it's done you can jack it up and spin the steering from lock to lock just to make sure there isn't a tight spot as it goes over the centre point.
 
.....and it may well appear in an unexpected place - under the brake pedal, where you'll think it is a leaking brake master cylinder!

Chris
 
The previous owner who is honest but not technically inclined says there have been no oil leaks over the three years he has had the car. He had it serviced at a local garage so I reckon the garage never checked the steering box oil level!!!! He wanted the car to have a full paper service history, but I would rather trust myself to make mistakes rather than pay somone else to not do a proper job! Anyway I hope this is the end of the saga apart from adjusting the steering box.
Thanks again for all your input.
 
barrywi said:
The previous owner ... says there have been no oil leaks over the three years he has had the car.
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My friend was beaming when he reported to me last week that his brake master cylinder had STOPPED leaking.
Brilliant! he said.
You know what that means, don't you, I said.
Yeah, it's fixed itself! He said. What a great car!
No, I said, it means there's no fluid in it!!! :wink:
 
OK there is a leak of fluid from the steering box. Does anyone know a likely suspect for the area of leaking and can it be stopped without removing the steering box which looks to me like a bit of a difficult job!
 
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