Upgraded Power Steering Pump Installed

Peroni

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I can't take credit for coming up with this mod. In my search I found discussions going back to at least 2004 about replacing the stock C2 pump with a C3 pump using all Ford parts.

Any OBS owner knows the stock C2 is lacking in both flow and pressure and that most "re-manufactured" pumps are about as bad as the worn out one it was to replace. Performance suffers further when more demands are made of the pump like large tires or adding hydroboost.

However Ford was equipping the 7.3 vans with an improved C3 style pump. These parts will bolt right up to the OBS motor with no mods. One can use the van pump but a 6.0 pump will also bolt right in. The only obstacle to overcome is that the new pump requires a remote reservoir.

I'll tackle the reservoir first, this was the biggest challenge for me with this project due to lack of available space. I already have my CCV filter mounted on the IDM. The ISSPRO Performax brain box is tucked into the corner on the firewall. The IC pipe and AC lines clutter up the space next to the radiator. I had one sliver of space left right between the hydroboost unit and the Isspro box. Not liking any of the commercially available remote reservoirs I set out to make my own. After a lot of thought and reading discussions on reservoir design I came up with something about the size of a large paint spray can. It holds just over a quart of fluid which should be plenty adequate. Top and bottom caps are sealed with an oring plus I put another oring seal for the cap, added a vent, dipstick and baffle plate to prevent fluid from sloshing into the vent. Being a machinist and engineer plus having my own shop really helped here.

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Next the firewall is marked for the reservoir location. I did have to unbolt the booster to gain access for drilling the holes but there was enough room to kind of push things aside without removing the master cylinder or brake lines. I selected some stainless steel rivet nuts, drilling them reaming the holes to the specified size.

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I did end up having to space the reservoir out from the firewall and additional 1/8". I did this with some washers but plan to make a proper spacer plate when time permits.

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The engraved dipstick. I calculated the fluid expansion in Solidworks and it actually came out pretty accurate.

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With that out of the way I moved on to the pump itself. I used a NOS 2005 6.0 pump that popped up on Ebay for less than most part store remans. It is marked HBD-MX and from what I could find published it puts out 2.8-3.2gpm with a min/max relief of 1750 and 1850psi.

The stock HBC-JX pump flows 1.4gpm with relief setting of 1400 and 1530psi. The HBC-JY which was used on the SD trucks with hydroboost flows 1.5gpm with a 1450 and 1530psi relief.

So the 6.0 pump put out a nice bump in both flow rate and pressure.

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The pump bracket is from an Ebay auto salvage seller. New brackets are also available if you want to spend the money. This is a direct bolt in for the stock OBS part. Your AC compressor and vacuum pump will bolt right up. The orientation of the vacuum pump is now horizontal instead of being tilted up slightly but its actual position on the engine is the same. Same goes for the pump itself which means you do not need to get a longer/shorter belt.

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Now for the pulley, this might be the hardest part to get hold of. You need to use the van pulley, no way around this that I'm aware of. The C3 pump shaft is slightly smaller than the C2 so your stock pulley will not fit. The van one is identical to the stock pulley except for the smaller bore. Aftermarket pulleys are not available for the van so get scrounging in the salvage yards. Ebay again came to my rescue with a NOS pulley which is pictured on the left here.

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Install is straight forward, just swap one bracket assembly for the other.

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The hoses are pretty straight forward too. I used a good quality 3/8 power steering hose to go between the reservoir and hydroboost unit as well as the return line coming off my fluid cooler.

The pressure hose I modified from the stock hydroboost line. I cut off the metal line right where it turns to rubber on the booster end, flared it and used a 3/8 jic coupler. The pump takes a metric ORB fitting, M16 x 1.5 to 3/8 jic. At the time I could not find a supplier who had a 90° fitting in stock so I used a straight one. Thought I could use a hydraulic hose with a 90° elbow on one end but the steering gear lines were in the way. So I used a piece of heavy wall tubing and bent it into a U then bent one leg over at 90° and angled it to line up with the hydraulic hose that connects up to the piece coming off the booster. In the future I plan to neaten this up now that I have a 90° metric to jic fitting. I can dispense with the lower section of bent tubing and just get a longer hydraulic hose.

After double checking everything I filled the system with LE 7500 power fluid and purged the air per Ford's procedure. Now I never really had any issues with my HBC-JY pump which I installed at the same time as my hydroboost unit. However I can say there is a marked improvement with both steering and braking with this new pump! It take less braking effort to stop the truck and steering feels lighter and more positive than before esp at idle and low speeds. No issues noted at all when using brakes and steering at the same time. I do have a spare hydrobooster unit here and am thinking about consulting with VANCO to see if having it ported will yield even better results.
 

Peroni

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I will get a pic of the pressure hose tomorrow, it's nothing special and can be had from anyone who can make a hydraulic hose.

I don't know what to tell you on the pump. Motorcraft does the numbers game with pumps. I think the housing is the same but internals are likely different. I used a STP-168 pump. Rockauto lists this as being for an 05-07 Superduty. However fordparts.com say it is for on 07 and STP-137 is for an 05. STP-102 is the 03-04 pump. Getting into vans I found STP-122 listed for 97 to 06 as well as STP-267. Does your head hurt yet? :morons:

In the end I went with the latest and greatest version of the 6.0 pump and figured most parts stores would have one in stock should I suddenly need one. Plus I just happened to stumble upon a brand new one for under $40. The bracket and pulley designed for the van pump lined up perfect with my 6.0 pump so I would say any differences are internal.
 

Got4wd

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The only thing I found different on the pumps are where the inlet for the feed was located. Nice work!
 
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Daaaang, I can never keep up with you 3 guys. Nice work Peroni.

Now if we can figure out what I was thinking about steering boxes, we can have a cutting edge system. One of my trucks has 5,000 miles on a rebuilt box and it is junk.

On the pump, I would have to have a spare pulley behind the seat, I'm nutty that way. Maybe we can come up with a press and weld sleeve set up fore ethe pulley so it isn't hard to come by.

Got my Mann filter on a few weeks back, somehow looks like the one in your photos! Another cutting edge job.

Thanks!
 

gnxtc2

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The four bolt cap is a 97 thing. Don't ask me what the difference is.

Need to start to gather parts for this mod. My PS pump is original. When my foot is on the brake, I turn the wheel, the steering binds.

What year/model or part number are the bracket, pulley and pump from?
Pump: STP-168, '05-'07 Super Duty
Bracket:
Pulley:

Billy T.
[email protected]
 
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Peroni

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The four bolt cap is a 97 thing. Don't ask me what the difference is.

Need to start to gather parts for this mod. My PS pump is original. When my foot is on the brake, I turn the wheel, the steering binds.

What year/model or part number are the bracket, pulley and pump from?
Pump: STP-168, '05-'07 Super Duty
Bracket:
Pulley:

Billy T.
[email protected]

Billy the pulley is F7TE-3D673-AA and bracket F7TE-19E708-BA

Here is the lower end of my pressure line
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And here is the upper end
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I will simplify this at some point but it actually works quite well as is.
 

Peroni

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The only thing I found different on the pumps are where the inlet for the feed was located. Nice work!
Yes I forgot about that! Some point back toward the firewall, others toward the radiator and one I saw was straight out the side.

This pump code is HBD-MX. I have seen other pumps for smaller Ford vehicles where the pump code still starts with HBD but the suffix is different. I suspect this is for different pressure reliefs and flow rates? I really couldn't find out too much info on these pumps searching online.
 

Peroni

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Daaaang, I can never keep up with you 3 guys. Nice work Peroni.

Now if we can figure out what I was thinking about steering boxes, we can have a cutting edge system. One of my trucks has 5,000 miles on a rebuilt box and it is junk.

On the pump, I would have to have a spare pulley behind the seat, I'm nutty that way. Maybe we can come up with a press and weld sleeve set up fore ethe pulley so it isn't hard to come by.

Got my Mann filter on a few weeks back, somehow looks like the one in your photos! Another cutting edge job.

Thanks!

John you of all people should know most "rebuilt" parts belong in the back of one of your garbage trucks! Have a look at Red Head and Blue Top steering boxes. My Red Head is 7yrs old and not a single issue with it. My original was far from worn out but this one has been a great improvement.

If I had to go with a rebuilt box I would go with Motorcraft. They seem to do a little more than just replace the seals and put the same worn parts back inside.
 

freddie

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I love these mods, but you guys make my wallet hurt. Lol. I guess it is better than a truck payment on a newer one...

Add me to the list of guys who will be watching ebay. Wonder how many of us will be bidding against eachother when these parts come available.
 

IHPowerstroke7.3

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I was looking to change to this pump on my super duty. I was excited when I saw this, but I forgot the alternator is on the other side on an OBS
 
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Peroni

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How much would you charge to make another one of these reservoirs?
I was afraid someone would ask! They would not be cheap, probably $400ea with raw finish. Would have to get orders for 10 to offer a price break. These are just so labor intensive and the material cost is not cheap either.

For you guys watching Ebay if y'all search the part number there is a used bracket on there right now for a decent price. No connection to the sale, just a FYI.
 
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