Power Steering Pump is dead. Need Your Help.

[chris777]

Cruiserhunter, I totally understand. I have been there myself, many times, living on fumes. You have to do what you have to do to get by sometimes. Rebuilding it shoudl definitely buy you some more time. I had mine rebuilt several times, before I finally broke down and bought a new one.

 

[D'Animal]

I am not accusing you of lying about it brother. I am just stating that my criteria for a successful fix is different than yours.

Oh please don't take me wrong. I only rebuilt the pump a year ago and it works fine. I don't have the time on it that Cruiser Drew does or a lot of people have in thiers. I just did want to make it sound like I rebuild it 10 years ago or 50k miles ago and no problems. Or that I am the pump rebuild guru or anything.

 

[60wag]

Some time ago I disassembled a steering pump that was giving me trouble. It wasn't leaking, it just didn't have much boost. I examined the bypass valve and it appeared ok. I then did some measurements of the rotor and housing. The rotor was something like 0.020 - 0.030 narrower that the housing allowing fluid to leak past the edge. The spec from the book was 0.002 - 0.003. No level of rebuild other than remachining the housing was going to fix that pump. I think the cdan price on a new pump was around $300ish.

 

[rick_d]

cruiserhunter-

a 1250mm belt with 17mm shoulder will work to go from:
alt-crank-water pump. A toyota part exists but I don;t know the number.

With the smog pump and PS out of the loop I put 14,000 miles on a 1983 FJ60.

D'animal dan, how many miles (hours) have you operated the rebuilt pump? And how many miles/hours were on the first pump?

One leak is the o ring to reservoir which a reseal might fix it. The other much more common failure is the worn bushings which elongate the holes and wear on the main shaft which equal a dead pump which a reseal won't fix.

Toyota also moved away from the reservoir/pump combo in later years, a good idea to stop the engine vibration from breaking the reservoir seals.

Having fought with rebuilds 1996- I must only recommend a new pump.

A-1 cardone (a nationwide rebuilder) etc (the blue paint rebuilds) fail most often in 6 months or 5,000 miles. I believe the cores they get in exchange are worn but they reseal and sell for profit.

 

[chris777]

I have two more tips that I employ since installing the new pump to make it last longer:

1. I have installed a powersteering cooling radiator in front of my radiator

2. I NEVER use anything but Dextron Aut Transmission fluid.

 

[beaufort-fj60]

okay... here is one of my "custom" fixes.. I did this for a temp fix and the belt never broke, and i ran it like this for three years.

no smog pump, no a/c, and no power steering

 

[Winston]

I would love to buy a new OEM pump, but If i bought that I would not be able to eat . I'm in the hole more than i would care to disclose with my education and
I'm living of fumes.

Called Cruiser Dan and he's sending me the rings. Hopefully I'll get them by next week.

If the PS pump is dead is there any harm in me driving her?

Thanks for your help and recs,
Patrick

If you don't have the money, you don't need to do anything - just drive it without PS and build some arm muscles.
One more thing to worry about however is that if your PS pump is leaking - its most likely going on your smog pump - and when that goes, a new one is $900.
So I would remove the PS pump until it gets fixed.

 

[chris777]

new smog pumps are one thing even I don't buy new. Because are ridiculously expensive. they are under $100 rebuilt at NAPA. But they only last about a year and a half. I always cary a spare with me now (and the belt).

 

[Zack1978]

Some time ago I disassembled a steering pump that was giving me trouble. It wasn't leaking, it just didn't have much boost. I examined the bypass valve and it appeared ok. I then did some measurements of the rotor and housing. The rotor was something like 0.020 - 0.030 narrower that the housing allowing fluid to leak past the edge. The spec from the book was 0.002 - 0.003. No level of rebuild other than remachining the housing was going to fix that pump. I think the cdan price on a new pump was around $300ish.

If he could get it for $300 something that is a great deal because I spent about $400 and that was a good deal!

Zack

 

[Zack1978]

And also how difficult is it to swap in a GM PS pump?

Zack

 

[D'Animal]

D'animal dan, how many miles (hours) have you operated the rebuilt pump? And how many miles/hours were on the first pump?

I am running 33's so that will add a little stress to the pump.

Here is one of my road trips. https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=164143

The original pump (I assume) had 174k miles on it. I did not buy the rig new so I am assuming it was the original.

It is my weekend daily driver. During the week I have a company vehicle. I have put about 12,000 miles on it so far.

My sleeve bearings were not worn out.

 

[patride71]

Patrick,
My smog pump bit the dust a few years back and i bought a shorter belt and bypassed the ps pump. it was a bitch to drive like that with larger tires, but got used to it. ended up finding a longer belt and with mean green alt i have in there was able to get my ps back. good luck with it. hope the rebuilt pump gets you through med school!

-pat

 

[timbercruiser]

Check for the loose shaft first before you order anything.

getting to the pump can be a pain if your rig is still smog compliant. If it is just take pictures of everything before you remove your hoses. You will have you airfilter assembly loose and out of the way for this.

You have one bolt on the bottom of the pump in the front and one in the back. The back bolt is right next to the exhaust manifold. Tight fit.
14mm I think.

You have your tensioner and two top bolts. 12mm I think.

Take the pulley off before you remove the pump. A pickle fork or a set of prybars work well after you take the nut off. Don't get abusive, you may bend the shaft.

When you have it all back together remember to use tranny fluid and not power steering fluid. It will say this on your reservoir.

Oh and it is normal for the bottom of the reservoir to be oval shaped. You will see what I mean.

Do i need a special extension for my ratchet to get at the bolt near the manifold? And how hard is it to put the pulley back on?

I need to re-seal mine and it looked tough to get the pump off.

 

[Winston]

If I understand your question -
You have to take off the entire bracket because you cannot get that bolt in the back off -
I've heard some try to loosen the manifold - I found it easier to just remove the whole bracket.
When you replace it - cut that bolt down so it will fit behind the manifold with no threads sticking thru the hole. Then when you get the pump back in, you'll have a few threads to hold it back there - but it will be 1000% easier to remove next time.
If you're unsure if yours has ever been messed with - maybe the PO already did this.
Putting the pulley back on is easy - there is a little woodruff key - make sure you don't lose it when you take the pulley off.

 

[cruiserhunter]

So here is the update to my powersteering problem.

Rob (chitown40) gave me his old psp that was only leaking a bit and if that weren;t enough he pretty much rebiilt it for me while we talked.
Archie(archie) let me us his tools and his brains to get the damn old pump out.
That bracket is rediculous. It has 4 bolts holding to the block and two of them you can;t see. It took us like 5 or 6 hours to get the old one out and new one in.

Sadly, the pump that rob gave me is leaking, but not nearly to the extent that my old one was leaking. Thankfully we cut down the bolt that holds the psp in so now i won;t have to take that damn bracket off ever again.

Hopefully I can keep up with the leaking and it doesn;t kill my smog pump. I did see rob's 60 and am dreaming about a desmog.

Anyway, Archie and Rob I can;t thank ya'll enough.
One day i hope I can pay ya'll back.

Patrick


timbercruiser
three inch extension and a one inch socket should do it.
use a hunk of brass to gently tap the pulley back on.

 

[Cruzerman]

When my pump died, I put on a Napa rebuild. Well, like others have experienced, that didn't last long. So when that died, I went Saginaw. I love it. For me, it's just a much better solution. It provides more boost which makes turning the 33s easy (and I'm set for larger tires). A replacement pump is readily available everywhere for reasonable prices if I should ever need one. Also, it allowed me to run off the middle pulley. This not only allowed me to lose my smog pump, but now I have two belts on the water pump so if one goes I still can travel down the road.

This was basically a bolt on operation. Like all things, going bolt on meant that it cost more (buying bracket instead of fabricating one). But I'm very happy so far with it.

 

[timbercruiser]

Thanks for the replies to my question. I think I'll try ATF first to see if leaking will stop.

 

[patride71]

glad to hear you got it worked out. you were in capable hands with rob and archie. they know their stuff! stay warm this fall/winter up there and keep the rust off!

 

[cruiserhunter]

Pumps leaking like a sive. I'm losing more ps fluid than ever.
Going to source a new cheap one. Nother credit card to put me in the hole.
Damn i hate not having a job. Wish I were smarter.
Any ideas for the cheapest pump possible.
I'll have a sort-of-pay check in 10 months so if it lasts that long i'l be giddy

Patrick

 

[Winston]

If money is that much of an issue, just go without power steering.
Then get an OEM pump when you can - it will probably save money over the long run, because an aftermarket pump will eventually fail also.