I was just reading the posts about using ABS and HC's recommendation of pulling the ABS fuse...on the one car I've owned with ABS, if you did that, it disabled the pump. I had a bad leak in the pump, so I drove my car like that for about a month. After about 20 stops, you would lose your power braking, and in my car's case ('85 Lincoln Continental) you also lost rear braking. Car was still drivable, but you really had to plan every stop, and driving in the mountains was very entertaining. Front brakes got really hot!

Maybe modern systems have overcome this?

Pulling the ABS fuse disabled the power brake booster? I wouldn't recommend it for anyone if that's the case. I didn't realize that the power brake booster had anything electric involved...I thought it was all vacuum and hydraulic stuff.

My truck has 3 ABS fuses. I'm sure one of them would disable only the ABS and nothing else.

With an ABS system (at least the one that I am familiar with) instead of the traditional vacuum booster you have an accumulator which is charged by a pump up to about 2100 psi. If you don't have that pressure in the system, you lose the power braking effect, and, at least in the car I had, you lose the rear brakes. I found THIS out when I went to have my car smogged...they put the car on the dynamometer, and they could not use the brake to stop it. I also had my front brakes get very hot coming down Angeles Forest Highway, which was my daily commute back in the day...

I've seen some cars that use hydraulic pressure (supplied from the power steering pump in some cases) as a brake booster. Seems like it overcomplicates things, but nobody asked me to design the cars...

Very interesting...I've learned something new today! :)

I just found out a few weeks ago. I am looking at a supercharger for my Buick, and one of the tough things is the power steering brackets. I was looking to see if there was such thing as an electric power steering pump, and there is but it can draw up to 75 amps during peak conditions, and that's some ugly wiring. I actually saw a youtube video of a guy who put electric power steering and electric power brakes on his '72 Cutlass - looked really slick but not up my alley.

Anyhow, during all of that investigation, I came across this other information on the hydraulically-powered brakes, and actually there are a fair number of cars that do this. I think it comes out of the whole hybrid/electric car phenomenon mostly.

-BC

Actually, it is apparently common on diesel cars without a throttle plate, and therefore insufficient vacuum to operate a power brake booster.

Now...for something completely different...Mechanical power steering (NOT hydraulic!)
https://www.studebaker-info.org/tech/...s/53mechps.jpg

I just got back from another trip downstate with the explorer. I can hardly believe the results from my trip back up...

As you may remember, all my mods fell off except the duct tape "diffuser" and the WAI/HAI, and tire pressure. On the way down I got ~20.7 mpg from Baraga to Gaylord Michigan, which was more than I expected. THen from gaylord to lansing, with lots of city driving on the tank I got 15-something mpg.
My parents bought me the stuff to fix the EGR valve and tube for x-mas - 15 hours of labor later, I got it installed (nut was rusted to the exhaust manifold, and took 10+ hours to remove).
Well, on the drive back I got just over 20mpg from Lansing to Gaylord, with ~40 miles of city driving and driving 70mph or over (without regard for gas mileage). And, from Gaylord to Baraga I got just over 23 mpg! I was going 55mph. With my aero mods this was about what I got last time ... so, maybe..MAYBE... if I put the aero mods back on, I'll get even better than 23! That would be amazing.

So, from this I've concluded that my EGR valve has never worked since I've owned the vehicle (3 years) - the check engine light only came on for it after I reconnected some rotted hoses for the DPFE sensor.

I'll update my gas log once I get unpacked & situated.

Its good to hear an update... Glad you got it working better.

Hold on, your water pump pully is hard to spin? Fix that asap, the bearing is going out.