power steering under drive pulley?

[teamcurtis]

I just picked up a 64. It has a stroked 383 in it with a fairly aggressive cam.
the engine idles so slow that until you give it some gas the power steering is non existent. Once you get the rpms up a bit everything feels great.

Is there an under drive pulley that can used to correct this?
Any issues surrounding these?

[woody31]

never heard of one,,but that doesnt mean its not out there,,,,try contacting march or billet specialties,,cheers

[jkk]

My 383 idles at 950 in park 750 in drive no issues with P/S What is yours idling at............you can't idle it up? You have idled down to make it lope more? What's your intial timing set at?

[teamcurtis]

I havent adjusted it, but it idles around 750 (manual)
I kinda like the way it lopes so id rather not idle it up
but i also noticed driving at night with the lights on, until youve been driving for a bit the stereo cuts off at idle, then back on with any increase in RPMs.

I know underdrive pulleys are popular in inport tuners to steal less HP, and i saw an overdrive at summit for the alternator, but nothing for PS.

I figured the easiest way was to increase the size of the pulley on the engine thus turning everything faster.

[woody31]

You have other issues..

[teamcurtis]

go on....

[jkk]

Need to decide what you want..........listen to the "LOPE" or idle it up some so P/S will work have you check it to see if it has air in the system? The stereo deal is something else electrical. My 383 has a 509/513 lift cam idles at 1000 in park 850 os in drive no issues p/s stereo / a/c /p/b / windsheild squirters all work great

[juggypile]

Is one belt running both power steering and alternator off the crank? If so maybe the belt is bad or loose?

[Jack_K]

Sounds like a bad alternator and/or battery.

[teamcurtis]

honestly i dont know. Ive driven the car 3 times now and havent had a chance to really look at anything
(i do have time at work to post here though)
Sounds like i have some additional digging to do when i change all the fluids next weekend.

[teamcurtis]

i just assumed the two were related as they both only happen at complete idle.
i also assumed that one belt drove everything.

but we all know about assumptions

[Geoff1200]

IF...everything is good, you can remove the flow control valve (where the H/P hose goes) dis-assemble the valve and remove the washer/shim. This will give you higher psi....IF there are no other issues....

[steelybill]

A bigger crank pulley will run everything faster, which will draw a bit more engine power, because of the change in ratios. Not enough to notice though, just like electric versus engine driven fans.

If your engine is a fresh rebuild, a real low idle speed isn't doing a flat-tappet cam & lifters any favors, unless you have a roller.

Some alternators will barely charge, and sometimes not at all, at a real low idle RPM, from what I've found, when using the larger alternator pulley. The large pulley does keep the V-belts on good though, if buzzing the engine up around 6500 RPM.

Is your alternator big enough to handle the stereo ? Some stereo rigs draw a lot of power......

[LOCKJAW]

X2 on turning the idle speed up a bit. Another 100 rpm (850) might mitigate these issues for you while increasing much needed oil pressure. just sayin....

[teamcurtis]

it idles around 800-900, hard to tell exactly but sub 1k so not super slow.
it does have a roller cam. (at least i was told, i havent looked inside the engine at all)

there are two separate belts running the alt and the power steering pump.

i suppose step one would be to measure the charge coming from the alternator at idel, then again at anything over idle.

the stereo im adding isnt anything crazy, its a 600w amp and a fairly basic head unit.
but i will double check the model and the rating of the alternator.

again the guy i bought it from told me it had an upgraded alternator, but i kinda took him for his word on that one.