Wobbly power steering pump pulley

[Johnny Atomic]

I've long had a pretty good belt squeak on startup that I haven't been able to chase down. It seems to be getting worse. I also noticed a little repeating squeak not very loud that seems to coincide with the wobble I now see in the power steering pump pulley. I don't have the typical power steering pump whine like it is going out. I'm wondering, should I change the pulley or the pump AND the pulley??? It is the original pump and never been serviced.

 

[Sad Sack]

I assume the squeak goes away with the P.S. belt removed and for what it's worth, for about $80 you can replace the pump, pulley and belt using existing reservoir. Less hassle IMO. If that doesn't correct it, there may be possibly an alignment issue with the brackets and spacers.

 

[legopnuematic]

Is the pulley wobbling, or is it the pump shaft wobbling?

It’s easy to mangle those stamped pulleys in the attempt to use a jaw style puller or something else instead of the correct puller.

Power steering pumps are pretty simple creatures, as far as shafts and bearings are concerned. The pump shaft rides in a bushing with a seal. If the bushing is worn it won’t wobble, it’ll be misaligned and probably leak at the seal.

If the shaft is bent in front of the seal, the. It would create runout, but probably not leak if the shaft is true at the seal surface.

 

[Johnny Atomic]

Is the pulley wobbling, or is it the pump shaft wobbling?

It’s easy to mangle those stamped pulleys in the attempt to use a jaw style puller or something else instead of the correct puller.

Power steering pumps are pretty simple creatures, as far as shafts and bearings are concerned. The pump shaft rides in a bushing with a seal. If the bushing is worn it won’t wobble, it’ll be misaligned and probably leak at the seal.

If the shaft is bent in front of the seal, the. It would create runout, but probably not leak if the shaft is true at the seal surface.

How would i tell if it is the shaft or the pulley wobbling?

The entire power steering pump assembly is original to the truck but has been removed at least a couple times, but the pulley has never been removed from the shaft as far as i know. There does not seem to be a leak.

 

[Johnny Atomic]

I assume the squeak goes away with the P.S. belt removed and for what it's worth, for about $60 you can replace the pump and belt using existing reservoir. Less hassle IMO. If that doesn't correct it, there may be possibly an alignment issue with the brackets and spacers.

Haven't pulled the back belt off to check. I have removed the front belt (actually it removed it'self).

 

[legopnuematic]

First, it is a press on pulley correct? It should be if it’s original to a 1983, the earlier (like late 60s) pumps use a keyed pulley with a nut on the shaft.

Remove the belt, if you have a dial indicator use that, if you don’t find a sturdy wire that can be shaped (like a metal coat hanger, Tig rod, 12 gauge copper wire, whatever), get a length and fasten to a bolt nearby, bend the wire to make a probe.

Set it up at the green arrow at the face of the pulley, grab and try to rock the pulley side to side, observe for a change in spacing from your probe, this will tell you if there is bushing or shaft wear.

Then spin pulley to find the highest spot, bend your probe to be closest to that, slowly spin and observe for changes in the gap. You can also set up the probe in the groove of the pulley where the side of the belt contacts.

Then move the probe to the yellow arrow, perform the same procedure and observe for changes in the gap.

If you have a dial indicator, do the same except you have actual numbers to work from. Hopefully this makes sense.

If you see wobble at the green arrow, but none at the yellow arrow, that would suggest the pulley is bent, if runout is observed at both that leans toward the shaft being bent. I wouldn’t expect that shaft to be bent unless it was subjected to really hard abuse. The pulley would be the easiest of the two to deform.

There are a couple assumptions being taken doing it this way, I can elaborate if needed. But it should provide a basic idea of what’s going on.

Let me know if you need clarification for any of that. It’s easy to demonstrate and explain if you were standing next to me, little harder in writing.

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[Edelbrock]

Squeak solution: Start the engine, and hold a piece of chalk against all the different edges of the belt. This eliminates the squeak very well on serpentine belts, V belts, etc. Obviously you want to position you hand is a way that if the belt grabs you, your hand would be pushed away from a pulley, rather than being sucked in. Although, blood might get rid of the squeak too - I have never tried that as a possible solution.

 

[Grit dog]

You gotta find the squeak first.
In my experience a little pulley wobble is not synonymous with squeaky belt.
Sounds like an old truck with old everything (except the belt that uninstalled itself recently).
Fixing the wobble on a perfectly operating, not leaking pump would be pretty low on my list unless I was driving it high miles, but this sounds like a tinker around project not a daily driver getting you to your paycheck source every day. I feel like I put alot of miles, a lot of years ago, on vehicles that may have had a wobbly pulley….if that helps.
And what’s your plan with the truck? Are you reasonably going to be repairing and upgrading a lot of stuff to improve the condition of the truck? If so a new pump and or pulley is cheap/quick/easy and it’s off the to do list.

 

[dd1990]

My burb had a squeaking power steering pulley with a wobble, turned out the pulley was cracked about a third way around. The crack was hard to see in the engine bay but when I took it off I could see the crack.