Power steering pump seems to have died, PAS delete?

Technical Area Steering & Suspension
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  1. My model of MX-5 is: Mk2/NB
  2. I’m based near: Fife
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Removing PAS or should I just replace the pump?

I’ll preface this by saying the car is for the track, it drives 15 minutes to my local track and that’s about it for road miles. However next year the car will be trailered. Last year I had a failed power steering line which I fixed and now the pump appears to have gone. I’m considering just removing it entirely.

Would this be stupid? Considering the car is well known for it’s power steering feel compared to cars of the same era/newer cars it feels wrong to remove it. At the same time, it’s another moving part I don’t really want to deal with.

Will this change the feeling of the car for the worse? I’ve had a good Google but most discussions people are in road only cars or majority of those posts are also USA based.

Thoughts?

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You may find this video useful. How to de power a mx5 power steering rack. ( link works now. Straight to the video.) https://youtu.be/qALuWGOO91o?si=mJCq7vOtF7Y1uRgw

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Why do you think that the PAS pump has failed? What are the symptoms?

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Pump is not doing anything, it was making a horrible grinding noise when I first noticed the problem but now it’s just silent. Steering feels heavy and it feels like throwing around wet noodles.

I’m going to drain all the fluid this weekend and see if the pump is making any noise. Belts are present and seem tight enough.

That’s the best of my diagnostic skills really, still learning so any advice is appreciated. I suspect a quick blitz of it running dry will quickly determine if it’s actually doing anything or not because it’s either going to be making dry pump noises or no noise at all.