A less expensive CBR power steering pump option

[Steel City 06]

After dealing with some issues with noisy PSC pumps, I went on a search to find another reasonable alternative that could support the PSC box and the ram assist steering.

Don't let this discourage you from buying the PSC kit; this one is a bit more work but offers similar results. The PSC kit may be mandatory if you need very high flow rates or flow at extreme angles. I found this to be comparable to their mid-flow in terms of performance.

Generally, you only need these increased flow pumps if you are running ram assist steering or hydroboost braking. I have hydro assist steering but not hydroboost.

First off, you will need the AC Delco 23121750 power steering pump. You can look this up elsewhere under a 2017 Chevy 2500 Vortec 6.0 V8. The pump comes with the pump itself and the reservoir.

You can reuse the factory feed line, though you'll need to bend it a bit. You'll need some sort of return system and power steering cooler such as the one that comes with Blaine's bolt on ram assist kit.

 

[Steel City 06]

You will also need some sort of tee or wye to split the return hose into two smaller 3/8" hoses. The reservoir has two inlets, as it is intended for use with hydroboost.

Here is the pump:

 

[Steel City 06]

You will notice two immediate issues with this pump: First, the bolting is different. Second, the filler neck is too tall to fit under the hood. We can fix both of those.

Using a drill press, drill out the first and third (but not the second) holes with a 5/16" bit. These must be square to the pump face, and drilled through to the other end. If they are not square, you will have issues mounting it. Your factory bolts should slide through without binding.

Take a saw and cut 1 to 1.5" out of the center of the stem, enough to clear the hood. Make sure no particles get into the reservoir, and if they do, clean them out with reckless abandon. Using a 1-1/4" pipe coupling and some oil-safe sealant, reattach the ends of the stem. Shorten the dipstick appropriately.

 

[Steel City 06]

Bolt the pump in using the top and bottom factory bolts, and a shortened middle bolt.

If the holes do not perfectly line up, you will have issues mounting. Use a drill to try and elongate the holes. If necessary, drill out a hole (ideally the bottom) to a slightly larger size.

You may need to bend the AC lines back to clear the reservoir. You will need to bend the factory high pressure line to get it to fit around the reservoir.

 

[Steel City 06]

Your factory power steering pulley has a different shaft diameter than the new pump. I am using a PSC pulley, though a cheaper option may be available. Start with a factory sized 5.5 inch pulley. If you rarely rev the engine high, you may be able to get away with a smaller pulley.

You cannot use the factory power steering fluid or transmission fluid with this pump. Flush the system with flushing oil, and fill with Swepco fluid or the GM equivalent.

 

[Steel City 06]

And that's pretty much it. I'll assume you can figure out the return plumbing. Be sure to add online filters somewhere in the return, as the pump reservoir only has a screen. Spend a lot of time properly bleeding the system prior to the first start.

 

[Steel City 06]

Here is my assembled spare pump:

This one I drilled out with 21/64 to try and more closely match the stock pump hole sizes. If the bolts don't line up, I can enlarge one or both holes to 11/32, which is just under the hole size PSC uses.

Ignore the bad countersink job.

This time I left the reservoir installed while drilling the holes, which made the entire process much quicker.

Be sure to use an inline filter on the return line, as these reservoirs only have a screen, and not an actual filter.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Nice writeup! Ram-assist is on my short list, I have steering issues nearly every time I go out on the types of trails I really enjoy. The only thing holding me back is $$$ and that I just don't have that much time left here in SoCal where it's more likely to be needed.

Good job, not doubt it'll get some moving on their steering assist!