Escort PS Pump

[Tony_F]

Anyone using an Escort pump? I am and it seems a little low on power. Or, it blew a seal internally.

Thanks

Tony

[shackf16]

I believe that Rod (dv/dt) is using one, or at least looked into it. He may respond here or you might try to PM him.

Shack

[StephenP]

I have a 95 Escort shop manual - I can see what the output is supposed to be if you would like.

[img]graemlins/grey.gif[/img]

[Tony_F]

Thanks guys, I've been considering switching over to the stock Mustang pump, it will also clean up the engine compartment since I won't need an external reservoir.

Tony

[dv/dt]

Hi Tony,
I am using an Escort pump but have not run the car yet. One thing I did notice is that the Escort pump uses a different regulator piston and fitting at the high-pressure line. To me it looks like the piston is designed to provide a flow restriction (the piston has a projection sticking out of the top which goes into the outlet fitting whereas the Mustang piston is flat top). So my plan is to run the Escort pump but with the Mustang piston and outlet fitting. I do plan to start off using the Escort spring, which is slightly shorter than the Mustang one and should have a bit less pressure, but will keep the Mustang one handy. I'll post some pick of both sets of parts when I get home tonight so you can see the difference. One possibility for you might be to cut the projection off the Escort pump's piston but let me take a look tonight to see if there are any other differences.

Cheers, Rod

[CraigS]

Tony-pls don't give up on that Escort pump.The biggest issue w/ PS on Cobras is that it is overassisted due to the light total car weight.Many of us are hoping that the Escort pump is the answer.

[dv/dt]

Here's the pic of the Mustang vs. Escort parts. The Mustang spring and piston are on the left in both cases and the Escort on the right. you can see that the Escort spring is shorter which would reduce the pressure according to what has been posted in the forum. But the big difference is the part that sticks out of the Escort piston and would go into the outlet fitting. To me the purpose of this would seem to be to act as a flow reducer. The two pistons are otherwise identical so I think you could cut it off and get better flow. I will stay with the shorter Escort spring to start to see if that combination works. Otherwise I think the pumps internals are the same between the two (but don't know for sure).



Cheers, Rod

[StephenP]

A little more fuel on the fire, or food for thought ...

There are three models of Mustang PS pump
2.3, 5.0 Man, 5.0 Auto in order of increasing flow
(HBC-HX, HBC-HZ, HBU-JD in same order)

Min Min Max
Flow Pres Pres
2.3L 4.9 850 1130
5.0M 5.1 950 1230
5.0A 5.3 950 1230

Max Free Flow are all the same at 2.6 GPM

Escort does not have the same table but from the way I read the test info:
No load at idle < 1.5 GPM - then service pump
Min .85 gpm at 740 psi
Max pressure between 1100-1200
Flow greater than 2.2GP - clean orreplace the flow control valve. the valve in the picture above

Seems like the Escort is the same pressure but half the flow of the Mustang. Not sure if that would be enough to hold the rack in position against the road wobble.

[img]graemlins/grey.gif[/img]

[ October 26, 2006, 09:34 PM: Message edited by: StephenP ]

[Tony_F]

Thanks Rod, I'll have to look at the pump again, I've had two of them and don't recall seeing that little shaft. The first was a used one from eBay that started leaking, the second is a rebuilt from Advance, the used eBay pump seemed to work better.

At idle with the stock pulleys and rebuilt pump, the car feels like it has no power steering at all. Revving the engine does not seem to help.

[StephenP]

BTW - there are 2 Escort pumps - 1.8 & 1.9 - completely different 1.8 is replace only.

Sorry Escort info above (both my posts) from 95 Escort Shop Manual. Mustang data is from 89 Mustang Shop Manual.

[img]graemlins/grey.gif[/img]

[Tony_F]

Thanks Stephen, I think I will just try cleaning it to start, perhaps some gunk got in there.

[hind sight]

Tony may find that the spring itself may be slightly too short for our application. What I ended up doing(mustang pump)was a little at a time shortening the spring in the pump. This was recommended to help take some of the "power" away from the pump. Well it does,so good that I reached a point of too little power assist. I bought some indexing washers for indexing spark plugs in heads and used these shims to shim the spring back to where it gave good feel. Plug idex washers come in a set with assorted thickness;s from .005" to .020".May want to try this first.

[Wayne Presley]

Greg LaPoint used the escort pump and liked the power available and the remote resevior.

[Tony_F]

Well I took the regulator piston out tonight and shimmed the spring with a couple of washers, about 1/8" total - much better at idle, did not take it out on the road yet though. BTW: I'm running a lot of caster, which will make the pump work harder when the car is stopped or at very low speeds.

Rod, that piston did not have the limiting shaft or whatever.

Tony

[Tom Mauldin]

I used an Escort case on a mustang pump and then cut the spring. The steering felt good. Not too twichy at speed and good assist at idle.

[Tony_F]

Originally posted by Tom Mauldin:
I used an Escort case on a mustang pump ....

Tom, you lost me, the Escort pump is a little larger than my fist, while the Mustang pump is almost twice that size plus the attached reservoir.

Did you use the remote reservoir from the Escort?

Any pictures?


Tony

[dv/dt]

Tony, we must be talking different years of PS pumps from an Escort. As with Tom, my Escort pump is identical to the Mustang pump with the exception that the case is designed for a remote reservoir. The cases are interchangable. Here's a pic of my pump:



The ones I looked at were from '93 to '95. Not sure about other years.

Cheers, Rod

[CraigS]

Tony-I have an Explorer pump w/ a cut spring and Heidts valve.This is not perfect.There are times in parking lot situations where the boost is a little low( no where as bad as NO assist though).But, if I crank up the assist w/ the Heidts,then it gets light at speed.Most modern cars have some way to automatically vary assist w/ car speed to avoid this situation.I think we are just going to have to accept it as it is.

[Tony_F]

ahh ha, makes sense now. My Escort pump is for a 97, I'll post a picture later.

Craig, I think you are right, get it close and be happy.

Tony

[Tom Mauldin]

Tony,
What Rod said. I used a Probe reservoir that I modified.