On another forum that shall remain nameless there is much discussion about the need for a power steering filter. Some 'experts" have removed theirs and claim better performance as a result. The recommendation now for owners with power steering issues is to remove the filter. I am imagining 35,000 pounds going down the road and failing to negotiate a turn as metal shavings from a failing bearing or other garbage lock up the pump gears. Is that an unlikely scenario or realistic? I have never seen a power steering setup without some kind of filter.
I might recommend adding or replacing one but I would never recommend removing one. I don't see how removing one would improve performance unless it happens to be clogged with crap from an already-failing system. I've added a filter w/ magnet to my AE92's PS system composed of unobtanium parts and had no issues.
What "performance" are they thinking gets better by removing the filter? 35,000 pounds of vehicle makes me think this is on a semi?
Sounds dumb to me.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
Dumb or potentially pretty dangerous?
Some of both...losing power steering can be dangerous and an unfiltered PS system circulating crud until the pump fails is one possible cause.
The only filters I have ever seen are screens in the remote reservoir. If they are restricted enough to cause trouble, fix the trouble and replace the reservoir.
There can be aftermarket inline ones that can be added to the return line, and those I would probably toss, and solve the reason the filter was added.
These days, power steering is a pretty sanitary thing until the pump or rack starts to come apart. Go back to the 80s, and the aluminum valve bodies would wear out, turning the fluid grey. That's a thing of the past, now.
Yeah I don't want to encourage anyone to remove filters from their PS system, but you can probably get away without one if the system is in good condition. I added a return-side filter to my AE92 mainly as some added insurance.
