Lost a power steering belt today/

[Songman]

Luckily I had just turned in to a parking lot so it wasn't bad. I can tell you these things are about the hardest I have ever driven with the power steering out. I figured it would be just like a car with not power steering but it was harder!

Now I have to figure out if the belt just broke or the pump locked down or something.

[grand_wag_85]

They sure can be a bear. I think the worst I've ever driven was an IHC pickup with no power steering.

[Tornado230]

You haven't driven anything until you have driven an FSJ (74 and newer) with manual steering.

[Ristow]

the power steering pump on my '99 KW blew a seal and dumped all the fluid into the engine. i made all my deliveries in san antonio before getting to a dealer for a new pump. try backing in to a few tight docks without power steering and the FSJ's are a cinch.

[Songman]

I feel better now! haha

I had AAA bring the Jeep to the house and apparently the belt just gave up. The pump turns fine. I was about to tear into it to do the new intake and carb anyway so guess I will do it all at once.

[El_Diablo]

why not just save the AAA tow and replace it "in the field", its not hard at all.... takes maybe 10 minutes?


btw, dueces are a gym without power steering.... my wagoneer isnt bad at all even with the 32's compared to a duece with 46's or larger and no power steering

[Songman]

I thought about that but figured with my luck I would be in the middle of changing it and not have a tool I needed. Since I was about to start taking it apart anyway it made sense to just make it one big job.

Now I am glad I did... I finally got the old belt off from where it was wrapped around and tied in knots around the fan shaft. I slip the new belt over the fan blades and thread it through the crank and water pump pulleys.. and slide it right on the power steering pump without ever loosening anything! So either they gave me the wrong belt or something slipped. I've seen this motor running plenty of times during my battle to get it smogged and the belt was not loose and it never squealed one time.

Anyway, so I started loosening up the pump... On the mount just to the left of the power steering pump when you are looking at it, there are two bolts in the mount very close together. I couldn't see what they are because it was starting to get dark, but the one on the left wasn't even tight at all. As a matter of fact, it wasn't long enough to thread in. That may or may not be part of the problem. But I ran out of daylight before I could find all the bolts I need to loosen to adjust the PS pump. Tomorrow is another day.

I'm still kinda leary as to what made this belt go all at once without ever a sound... and also why the belt they gave me slipped over the pump without adjusting it.

[Songman]

I just noticed on the package for the belt that it is a 54.3" belt. There is also a 54" listed. Guess I should take this back and get the shorter one.

[[]V[]AXX]

the power steering pump on my '99 KW blew a seal and dumped all the fluid into the engine. i made all my deliveries in san antonio before getting to a dealer for a new pump. try backing in to a few tight docks without power steering and the FSJ's are a cinch.

Ever driven an old Ford 9000 with the air assist steering? We had one for a yard shag horse at a pallet company I worked for. The air assist cylinder had died long ago, and dragged when you were turning. I've got a picture somewhere around here, taken by my boss, of me with the driver's door open, cranking on the wheel tryin to turn it tight enough to straighten it out going into the dock. I had to hang out the door like a monkey and use my weight. After he took the pic and laughed for an hour or so, he let me pull the cylinder and take it in to a pneumatics shop to be rebuilt.

[Songman]

I found a picture on the forum that shows a good view of the bracket around the PS pump. The bolt circled in red is the one that wasn't even long enough to thread in.

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo182/Songman64/misc/psbolt.jpg
Mine is slightly different because I have an air pump... for the moment.

Looks like it probably didn't need to be loosened anyway but I am glad I found it wasn't holding. Guess I'll figure out how to adjust this thing tomorrow when I have some more light.

[Elliott]

That one bolt being loose by itself wouldn't have had anything to do with the belt jump. There are several other's that locate it.

[El_Diablo]

the only thing you have to do to adjust the PS pump is loosen the two nuts at the back and insert a half inch rachet into the pumps bracket to hold tension on it while you retighten the nuts