Power Steering Pump Woes

[Ernzo]

Well, it's raining, the old pump is still not out..

That darn mounting chassis fot the ps pump and the air pump is certainly interesting.

Anybody know, do I *have* to drop the whole shebang just to get the old pump off?

I have the three front mount bolts/studs off, the rear bolt, both hoses.

I do not have the bottom bracket bolt off.

btw. what caused this sad PS Pumpectomy? An alternator belt went while in the San Juans. Took out the pump belt, and whumped the seal so bad that it started leaking.

Check and change those Belts (and hoses).

E

[ibnfe]

You have to remove the three bolts/nuts on the front half of the bracket and the pinch nut on the rear bracket/pump (this one is easy to miss), after that, disconnect the lines and the pump (and front half) should come right off. This is speaking from a non-smog equipped rig though. Don't know if the smog pump will have additional junk holding you up.

[Ernzo]

Thanks, IBNFE, the hold up is (was) the doggone smog pump bracket! Now that is one hell of a nice piece of cast aluminum, but heck! Plus, the metric sized bolts, switching all the darn studs etc.etc.

The loaned pully puller worked fine, had to ad-lib the press. The return line broke, but needed relpacing anyway.

More later...

[ibnfe]

Glad to hear it's off. I went ahead and bought the pulley set. Usually once I take on a task and my buddies hear about it, they want to recruit me to "show" them how to do it. ;) And since your smog bracket was such a pain, it makes me that much more happy that mine has long since been gone. :D

[Ernzo]

Pump it Up! The Pumps on, and made REALLY allot of noise, at first. I mean, it sounded bad. I did the standard bleed, wheel from side to side, no effect. After driving down to the parts store to return the core, it quieted down, mostly. I am going to adjust the belts again, and see. The Smog Pump seems to be chattering now...

BTW, anybody know? Is ther supposed top be a big stream off hot air comming ouot of the back of the air pump with an associated 'growling' noise????!!!

...will this ever end.....

[wagdriver]

One of the tricks I have heard for noisey new pumps is to remove the belts and turn the pump backwards a few turns with the cap removed from the resevoir, turns out some of the pumps trap air and that is what causes all the noise. Supposedly turning the pump backwards forces the air out and eliminates the associated noise. Doesn't cost much to try it any way. ;)

[Ernzo]

Thanks W, I will try that today. I have to tighten all the belts anyway.

I know a rblt air pump is cheap, but I really am tired of grease just now...

E

[Ernzo]

Well, she's all in, belts adjusted, fluid full. Turns HARD! No noise anymore, but hard turning. Checked the belt, hard to tell if there is slippage. The only thing I did not do is detach the return hose, and fully bleed/evacuate the system (while keeping the resovoir full). I am using Valvoline semi-synthetic. Sheesh! Any ideas?

E

[wagdriver]

I'm just guessing here, are the vicosity of you previous fluid approximately the same? I can not think of any major items at this point. Let us know what you find out. ;)