Power Steering problems and Belt Wobbles

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blinnqb

blinnqb

10 Year
Joined
May 24, 2015
Threads
9
Messages
29
My Power Steering in my 1991 FJ80 has been out for about 6 months now. It will work above about 1000 rpm's, but parking is horrible. This occurred after taking a small radius turn a little too fast and it immediately felt stiff and has been that way for a while. I've tried flushing the fluid and purging any air out but both have not helped.

Flash forward to last week, and I get home one day and here this rattling/shaking sound from the engine bay. Now the PS pulley is wobbling and pretty violently. It will only shake when at idle rpm's, it straightens out once given some gas. When the engine is off I can see that the ps pulley is misaligned with the other pulleys which are rotating perfectly smooth. Yet the misalignment changes through the pulleys rotation. Half way it is a few degrees toward the back of the car and half of the rotation its pointing towards the front of the car. Also there is a little bit of metal shavings on the spindle that the ps pulley is spinning with.

I've done a lot of research but I can't find anything quite like this. I'm going to take it in to a mechanic but thought I would as all of you first. I haven't been driving it because I don't want to make the problem worse.
Thanks everyone!
 
Subbed. My pulley slides in and out about 1/8" and groans a little.
 
Uhhhhh...replace the PS pump?
The bearing is obviously shot and the shaft, seals and other internals are probably toast as well. There should be no movement in the PS shaft.
Talk to @beno about a factory rebuilt one if they're still available or contact @arcteryx Jason at Cruiseryard.com about a good used replacement.
 
Sounds like you needed anew pump 6 months ago bearings are done allowing the shaft to wobble
 
Or, the shaft/pulley are dorked. Have seen them strip, the nut is loose, the pulley walks around, breaks the key, etc. Somewhat common on the 3FE pump.
 
I think mine is just shot. How many people here will disown me if I get a reman unit for $80?

 
mct75 said:
I think mine is just shot. How many people here will disown me if I get a reman unit for $80?
Click to expand...

:meh: the end float is not that tightly controlled on them, have seen several like that. How does the fluid look, Likely nasty, if so and not significantly leaking, flush it out. We have seen better performance from standard P/S fluid or hydraulic oil than ATF, especially if it has a mix. Know of several running, long term, (large tires, wheeled often) like that with no issues.
 
Looking at it some more, there looks to be some fluid on the backside of the pump as well. Just moist really.

The fluid actually looks pretty clean, but I've only had the truck for 2 months and it's very possible the PO changed the fluid to quieten it up long enough to sell it to me. Fortunately on the 3FE I can always just take the belt off if it blows up.
 
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