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WJ power steering pump upgrade vs PSC pump upgrade

General consensus was to leave it alone and not drill it out, as drilling it caused it to whine.

I believe you can use, if you want, the other port to attach a power steering cooler. I've found a write up that a cooler from an F250 mates to the brace behind the bumper without much issue. Even mounting holes line up.
 
Ok to dig up this thread again thanks to the attention given to me from another member on another thread I started in search for information on this swap, what is the general consensus on drilling out the high pressure fitting from my XJ pump?

Also, how did y'all plug the other fitting on the reservoir?

Have you done the upgrade? Any tips on how to do this? Did you have to mode the low pressure line like in the write mentioned here? http://www.bsfab.net/?p=152

I have a 97, so I shouldn't have to do the mounting stuff.

How did you plug the extra hole that the WJ pump has?
 
R6TeXJ - I tried to do the WJ pump upgrade. The pump I had kept leaking out of the connection between the pump and the reservoir (reinstalled 3 times with new O-rings each time), so I just tossed my OEM one back in with a new reservoir.

When I installed the WJ pump, I didn't have to do a lot of what they said on that write up. I certainly didn't tap and thread the WJ pump bracket - there is no need, I didn't have to tweak any lines, I didn't drill out the XJ pressure line fitting. It really should be just a direct swap...with the pressure line fitting change. Next time I would try to do that change with a wrench and not a socket. I took the WJ pump and reservoir apart to move the fitting to fit the socket in and I think that I never could get it back together solid. I believe that if I had never fiddled with the reservoir separation I'd have been fine.

The extra hole, I left about 3 inches of hose on it and then stuck a big ole bolt in the end and hose clamped it down. It was suggested to me later that if I'd left about 6 or 8 inches, I could have folded up that soft line into a "U" and eliminated any possibility of fluid escaping between the bolt and the hose clamp.

I also did use a junk yard pump so that I didn't have to deal with moving the pulley from one unit to another.
 
thank you!

While you had it could you notice a better feeling while turning?

Thank you for your help! I'll think I'll try and tackling this mod this weekend.
 
Have you done the upgrade? Any tips on how to do this? Did you have to mode the low pressure line like in the write mentioned here? http://www.bsfab.net/?p=152

I have a 97, so I shouldn't have to do the mounting stuff.

How did you plug the extra hole that the WJ pump has?

Ok so what I did is I used the lower return fitting and got a small piece of larger hose at the parts store because thew fitting is too big for the stock return line. I then went to the hardware store and got a reducer fitting to then drop back down to the stock size. For the smaller fitting on the on the reservoir, I originally capped it with a silicon cap from the parts store. That thing leaked like crazy even with a clamp. I finally took a small piece of hose and clamped it and then stuck a bolt in the other end big enough to fit in the hose and then clamped to that and that stopped the leaking. Aside from those two slight adaptations, the rest of the install was straight forward. I swapped my original pulley to the WJ pump because my 97 had a metal pulley while the WJ stock pulley was plastic. I also of course swapped over the fitting for the high pressure side like everyone else did. Turning seems slightly easier but not drastically. I did a lot more internet researching and found more threads discussing whether or not to drill out the high pressure line fitting. I found an interesting discussion where one guy tried drilling it out larger but not to the same size as the stock WJ fitting. What he was saying is that drilling the hole out to the same WJ size but trying to force it down the smaller XJ line with less things that all that volume of fluid has to run would cause the pump to capitate creating the noisy pump that everyone seems to complain about. He drilled it our larger and it gave him more power but it didn't create the loud pump issue. I wish I could tell you what size that was but I cannot find that web page again to tell you what he drilled it out to. I had planned to pull the fitting out and drill it out to the size he did after the dust settled moving into out new house.
 
I run a WJ pump and Durango box and LOVE it. Huge difference over stock. Turns my 33's with no effort. As said don't drill out the fitting. All you need to do is swap it. You don't need to tap the pump I just got a longer bolt to go all they way through. Even that is overkill though. My biggest issue was the second line fitting. At first I had a hose with a plug with a clamp and that didn't last, crapped out driving one day gushed fluid everywhere. After that I put a new hose with a bolt and filled it with RTV or any oil resistant silicone clamped it and it's been fine. I went with Lares for my reman, they are based here in the states and cost wise and not bad, a lot cheaper than a PSC or red head rebuild. I also ran all new lines, with a aux cooler, filter and Lucas fluid. Worth every penny IMHO.
 
Found it! Post #7 goes over what this guy did when he put a WJ pump on his TJ. He drilled it out to 3/16" and he says it doesn't make the horrible noise but increases power.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/wj-grand-cherokee-power-steering-pump-swap-1167530/

I've read through that post a few times, just never noticed where he with a smaller drill bit. I'm thinking of trying the non-drilled version for a moment and see how that does. Then if I need to I can always drill it out to the 5/32" that he mentions.

It never left the garage....
WHATTT??!!!!

I run a WJ pump and Durango box and LOVE it. Huge difference over stock. Turns my 33's with no effort. As said don't drill out the fitting. All you need to do is swap it. You don't need to tap the pump I just got a longer bolt to go all they way through. Even that is overkill though. My biggest issue was the second line fitting. At first I had a hose with a plug with a clamp and that didn't last, crapped out driving one day gushed fluid everywhere. After that I put a new hose with a bolt and filled it with RTV or any oil resistant silicone clamped it and it's been fine. I went with Lares for my reman, they are based here in the states and cost wise and not bad, a lot cheaper than a PSC or red head rebuild. I also ran all new lines, with a aux cooler, filter and Lucas fluid. Worth every penny IMHO.

Longer bolt where? sorry not understanding.

I'm thinking of getting one from Oreilly's From work I get a discount.
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/MPPC/73329105/02869.oap?year=2002&make=Jeep&model=Grand%2BCherokee&vi=1386839&ck=Search_power+steering+pump_1386839_869&keyword=power+steering+pump
 
drilling the flow control valve out works well for increasing flow. the side effect being pump whine if you go too large. red neck ram recomends no larger than 5/32. but i am not sure if it does anything for pressure, it is my understanding that the pump has a maximum pressure output before going into bypass. if i am wrong, someone please correct.

regardless... i think increasing pressure with only mechanical steering is a risky game. there are lots of people who crack their frame rail with the stock pump. now you want to apply MORE force when bound up?

for what its worth... i have the PSC replacement pump (not the fancy one with remote resi) with hydro assist and am beyond happy. zero pump noise (PSC calls out swepco 715 fluid for their pump. while pricey at $10/quart, its still cheaper than royal purple full synthetic) with plenty of pressure and flow for 35s. i can point the tires where i want, when i want. and on the street its not sluggish. i have heard stories of pumps not being able to supply enough flow, and steering speed being limited. the assist also takes a lot of the load off of the frame rail.
 
drilling the flow control valve out works well for increasing flow. the side effect being pump whine if you go too large. red neck ram recomends no larger than 5/32. but i am not sure if it does anything for pressure, it is my understanding that the pump has a maximum pressure output before going into bypass. if i am wrong, someone please correct.

regardless... i think increasing pressure with only mechanical steering is a risky game. there are lots of people who crack their frame rail with the stock pump. now you want to apply MORE force when bound up?

for what its worth... i have the PSC replacement pump (not the fancy one with remote resi) with hydro assist and am beyond happy. zero pump noise (PSC calls out swepco 715 fluid for their pump. while pricey at $10/quart, its still cheaper than royal purple full synthetic) with plenty of pressure and flow for 35s. i can point the tires where i want, when i want. and on the street its not sluggish. i have heard stories of pumps not being able to supply enough flow, and steering speed being limited. the assist also takes a lot of the load off of the frame rail.
How much does the PSC replacement pump cost? I'm not needing hydro assist running 33s. Though I am locked in the front, so a little extra oomph would be nice.

I've already had to weld a part of my frame on the front. It started to crack at the bottom.
 
Longer bolt where? sorry not understanding.

I'm thinking of getting one from Oreilly's From work I get a discount.
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/MPPC/73329105/02869.oap?year=2002&make=Jeep&model=Grand%2BCherokee&vi=1386839&ck=Search_power+steering+pump_1386839_869&keyword=power+steering+pump[/QUOTE]

The WJ pump has an extra bolt hole, you can either tap and drill out the XJ bracket to make it fit OR I just drilled out the XJ bracket and used a longer bolt that went all the way through.
 
How much does the PSC replacement pump cost? I'm not needing hydro assist running 33s. Though I am locked in the front, so a little extra oomph would be nice.

I've already had to weld a part of my frame on the front. It started to crack at the bottom.
can be found with 230 with the resivoir.

http://www.pscmotorsports.com/engin...servoir-w-factory-oring-pressure-fitting.html

i had a stock pump that i was running with the assist. and a modified stock pump (drilled out the flow control valve). i stuck the valve on both of them in short time. locked them up enough that no amount of beating on the pump would shake them loose. got tired of messing with it, so i flushed the system, added a WIX trans filter to the return line, and installed the PSC pump. been golden ever since.

the PSC pump is significantly faster and has more pressure. 100% bolt in as well. after blowing through multiple pumps and losing quarts and quarts of power steering fluid... i wish i had just payed for the good stuff at the begining.
 
I got the Lares 1353 installed tonight. Need to finish it tomorrow when I get a pitman arm puller.

The directions read: "Your steering gear box has been centered to the optimal position at our factory. A yellow alignment mark has been drawn on the sector shaft and the case. It is important that these marks line up or you will have excessive play. Adjust your steering wheel or pitman arm and tie rod ends as necessary so the marks line up."

First off, I'm assuming the sector shaft is what the pitman arm installs on. Secondly, this box has NO yellow marks anywhere on it at all. Thirdly, when I was putting the rod between the box and the steering wheel on, it turned the shaft some and it isn't at the same place it was when it came from the factory.

Anyone foresee issues?
 
Update;
so I spent sat working on this and by about 6pm, started at about noon, I was done and starting the process of getting the old fluid out, then priming the new pump.

Getting old fluid out, the the vehicle to the ON position(not started) and plugged the return line and let the old fluid push out as I was pushing the front tires so that it would turn the steering wheel from left to right. (front axle was on jack stand, tires off the ground).

Then I put the stock return line on the new pump, put the key to the ON position(vehicle not started) and pushed pulled my driver side front tire. Did this to get rid of the air bubbles....did this for about 20-30 times. Air bubbles still present, so I started it and turned my wheel a bunch of times, maybe 20times. Lots of bubbles still. I never let the reservoir become empty.

Drove it around the block, it seemed to be quieter. Got back, parked it and noticed that it was leaking a LOT of fluid. Got pissed and said I'll come back later.

Flash forward to today, got the brake cleaner out to wash off the tank then moved the jeep from the grass to the driveway, after putting in some fluid as the reservoir was so low that I had no steering. So I got out and sure enough found the problem, one of the service holes they use to reman the part they they are supposed to then plug back up, was leaking from there. It was also leaking somewhere else...took it back and now they are going to get me another one...oh yay...

continued for later...
 
I got the Lares 1353 installed tonight. Need to finish it tomorrow when I get a pitman arm puller.

The directions read: "Your steering gear box has been centered to the optimal position at our factory. A yellow alignment mark has been drawn on the sector shaft and the case. It is important that these marks line up or you will have excessive play. Adjust your steering wheel or pitman arm and tie rod ends as necessary so the marks line up."

First off, I'm assuming the sector shaft is what the pitman arm installs on. Secondly, this box has NO yellow marks anywhere on it at all. Thirdly, when I was putting the rod between the box and the steering wheel on, it turned the shaft some and it isn't at the same place it was when it came from the factory.

Anyone foresee issues?

Yes, that is the sector shaft. I'm trying to remember from when I did it, but it was just a small mark. Mine got bumped and turned a little all it did was make the steering wheel crooked. When I have the want I'll probably adjust it, but no issues other than left turns feel straight.....
 
Can this 'mod' be done as just a replacement of OE pump on a XJ by opening the fitting and get more assisted steering? Or will it be to much if not running giant tires?
My pump isn't doing so great on the XJ I jus bought so thinking it might be good to just get a WJ pump instead...
 
Depends on what year XJ you have depends on how much work is involved. Like for my 97, I just opened up the orifice a tad and then had to bend the metal hose a slight bit and then add a hose to the extra return line and cap that off.

It helps a lot. I'm running 33's with a locker in the front.

For a stock vehicle that you never plan to put bigger tires on, I don't think it would be that much help. It will provide more force but it's not really needed with stock tires.

But that's just my opinion, and most people start out saying they will not be upgrading and then 6 months later their on tons and have no glass in the rig anymore lol
 
Mines a -97 also. Planing on running just 31s aince it's intended to be more a expedition vehicle than a trail/rock crawler rig. And the pump on it (the truck is bone stock) is making noises and sometimes it's almost impossible to turn when parallel parking (idle, very low RPM) so it needs a new one, so figured why not use a WJ pump if its a bolt-in deal AND get a bit more assist than a new XJ pump.
 
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