Power steering reservoir location / elevation?

[Raf99]

Hey

For our PS reservoir....

- Does location matter? (if I put it somewhere else and ran a 10' line back to the PS pump, would that work?)
- Elevation, does it need to be lower than the PS pump? Does gravity assist in feeding the PS pump fluid?

I'm thinking of adding an aftermarket cooler and maybe moving this unit to wherever I choose in the engine bay but I'm not 100% sure on the consequences of doing so. Does anyone know?

[Bunta]

I would think that having the reservoir higher would help with any air bubbles being evacuated, not sure if it really gravity feeds though.

Also, did you mean 10 FEET of line back to the PS pump or 10 INCHES?

[Raf99]

I would think that having the reservoir higher would help with any air bubbles being evacuated, not sure if it really gravity feeds though.

Also, did you mean 10 FEET of line back to the PS pump or 10 INCHES?

10 Feet. I want to be able to put the hoses etc. anywhere. Or want to know if I can. Definitely a topic no-one seems to know the true answer of. Currently I'm assuming it makes no difference where you put anything. It's lower than the pump so it fits under the hood and it's near the pump bc that's easy. So if I move the PS reservoir near the firewall and run a long line to the pump, would it work?

[cp[mike]]

10 Feet. I want to be able to put the hoses etc. anywhere. Or want to know if I can. Definitely a topic no-one seems to know the true answer of. Currently I'm assuming it makes no difference where you put anything. It's lower than the pump so it fits under the hood and it's near the pump bc that's easy. So if I move the PS reservoir near the firewall and run a long line to the pump, would it work?

This should answer a lot of your questions:

http://www.pscmotorsports.com/pdf/te...rvoir_tips.pdf

According to them, reservoir placement is actually important. It needs to be above the pump, gravity-feeding downward. This is describing their aftermarket PSC brand pumps, but I would imagine the concepts would still generally apply to the stock system. It seems like the biggest concern is having an oil supply feeding to the pump at all times.

It's hydraulic fluid, so theoretically long output lines shouldn't really matter. Though I would worry that rubber lines may be subject to positive pressure so you may want to use reinforced fuel tubing. Normally Honda used rigid metal tubing for the long distance runs (like up to the cooler at the front bumper)

The weird thing is, the OEM location has the reservoir at the same height, or seemingly a bit below, the pump. I took it to mean that the pump must at least have some amount of "suction" capability, especially if the feed line is primed with fluid. You can PROBABLY move the reservoir, just try to keep it as high as possible, but I could be wrong............

I had mounted my reservoir on the passenger shock tower near the fusebox. I didn't run it this way for very long before selling the car, but I recall that it seemed to work fine? Below is a picture of the car from when I sold it, and I sold it with all accessories working (A/C and P/S):

[Raf99]

Just what I was looking for!!!

But..... that page must be for old V8s or something. None of that makes any sense with how Honda does it. And ya, my OEM reservoir outlet is way below the inlet for the PS pump, so there has to be suction. I doubt there's "pushing" as our PS reservoir would be trying to overflow constantly. But I basically want to do what you did and I can't see any issues with this so far.

Some points (and points that go against that article)
- I thought our system was air tight. ie- air = bad / cavitation. Don't think a vented reservior makes a difference
- I wouldn't think the length of the host between the reservoir and PS pump would matter. As long as fluid was present an adequate amount
- As long as the pump didn't have to work harder than it does in an OEM setup. (gravity may assist increasing volume flow)

I'm thinking location doesn't matter but height does. After all you don't want the pump trying to pull fluid up, that takes more work. (yet that is what our cars do now)

So...... were you just making sure it was the same height as it's prior location when you moved it?

[Raf99]

Think I figured this out by starring at your pic for a while.

- In the OEM location there is already a long hose that runs from the rack, up hill, and to the reservoir. Part of it goes through the cooler too.
- The pressure doesn't come from the reservoir, it's more of a pool. But I can tell you that a aftermarket reservoir that has no baffles you will see that pool swirl around. It's being pumped through the system quickly by the turning pump.
- So I think one could put the reservoir anywhere they wanted, as long as fluid is present, pump doesn't go dry, and the fluid is kept cool.

It's the pump going dry part to worry about. Several things could contribute to that, so no blockage of any kind. But I still think there's always a fluid being pushed through no matter what height or distance you use, in the end it's all a big loop system anyways.