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power steering pump


smokinquack

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As I got my Monte running last spring, I replaced all belts and hoses.  Twice it has thrown the power steering belt.  Looking at it, it doesn't line up right.  I put a straight edge on the pump pulley and it goes to nearly the middle of the crank pulley.  Looks like the pump sits in a bracket, can this be shimmed?  Any thoughts?

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You straight edge is resting on the front most part of the PS Pulley, not the groove so the belt would not be riding where your straight edge hits the crank pulley but a little bit more toward the engine so to me it does not look that far off.  I am including a picture of mine from when I redid my AC last year and took photo's prior to tear-down.  My car has AC.  I hope the picture helps.

rob

2 Compressor and belts before start.jpg

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Yes my straight edge is on the fwd edge of the pump pulley so in my mind it should line up with the fwd edge of the middle crank pulley (its a triple pulley) , not into the groove.  The alternator and a/c belts line up just fine.

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If the AC and alternator belts line up without any issues, then I believe you are correct about shimming the PS pump forward to get a better alignment.

Is there any play where the PS pump bracket bolts to the Water Pump?  Otherwise it will be difficult to shim forward.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been working 7 days a week,, finally got back to this. Took the pump and bracket off, there is a spacer on one mount, the bottom bolt was ground shorter for some reason?? and the reservoir has a big dent in it, so obviously this has been messed with at some point. Looks like its leaking so Im gonna get a new pump and shim as needed to get it to line up. 

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Greg,

I don't know what replacement pumps cost but you can probably clean that one up and install a rebuild kit for $15 or less.  When I installed a salvaged PS pump and steering box on my '70 (came from the factory with manual steering), I bought a rebuild kit from Advance Auto and installed it myself.  It's a bit tedious but not bad. 

I made a Photo journal of the pump rebuild process that you can access on Photobucket at this LINK if you're interested.  Just advance from one photo to the next in the album and scroll down a bit to see the text in the captions below each photo. Good luck.

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I rebuilt mine several years ago and as stated its not an awful job but it started leaking again last summer I found the seal between the housing and body was leaking. I decided to get a rebuilt pump to replace it. I normally only put new parts on mine instead of rebuilt but was about a hundred dollar difference and you had to use the orig. housing. I got a rebuilt from advanced auto for around $65.00 the body was a little different but fit and worked fine. I have no complaints about it. Just my 2 cents.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got a rebuilt unit to my door for $50.  Installed it today, the reservoir is a different shape, not narrow at the neck, and I was barely able to get the belt on.  There were two plastic plugs on the back side, Instructions said to take bolts off original and put on rebuilt, one is a mounting stud.  It leaks badly.  Buddy said there should be o-rings on those back side bolts?  didnt come with any, turned the old in for core charge.  Any body with experience with this?

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One of the benefits of re-building an original unit is that you know it will fit and work if you just stop the leaking, 

I think your current problem is easily solvable but I doubt you can order those bolts from a parts supplier although a generic hex-head threaded plug of the correct diameter may work.  Obviously, the thread type on the plug must match the thread type in the pump body. 

You may need to buy or make/modify the correct bolts (diameter, thread type and length). I would start with a hex head bolt with a flat shoulder of the correct diameter and gently try to thread it into the hole(s) to see which thread type (possibly a fine rather than coarse thread) is required.  Then be sure (or modify) the length so it only threads fully into the body with an o-ring under the bolt head since its only function is to plug the threaded hole and seal pressurized fluid in the pump.  Once you have the correct bolt(s), you can easily find, fit and buy the correct o-rings at any large hardware or auto parts store.  The inside diameter of the o-ring should be a snug fit to the outside diameter of the bolt just under the head and neither a stretch fit nor a loose fit.   Finally, I would tighten the bolt(s) snuggly but not too much to avoid crushing the o-ring. Good luck.

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I have the bolts and installed them, they seemed to tighten fine.  I'm just trying to verify they need o-rings, none came off with the bolts.  I'm not 100% sure this is where its leaking as I haven't taken it all apart again, just trying to get info before I dig into it again.  Found some stock photos of what I'm talking about.  Thanks for the replies

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It's been a long time since I've had one apart, but I seemed to remember that the o-ring was on the inside of the case. I just checked an old GM Overhaul manual and sure enough it shows that there are a couple of square O-rings in a machined spot on the pump itself. Exploded view, item # 20 for the bolts and 23 for the spool valve, and on the pump shot you can see the recessed area where the seals would sit.

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Joe is correct - the o-rings go inside the case as the exploded view above and the photos of my actual pump show below.  You said your rebuilt pump is not exactly the same as a factory installed Monte pump so there may be some visual differences

 

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P2090410.JPG

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  • 3 weeks later...

Still fighting this.  Cleaned everything up, set the reman pump in place, but did not fully install,  and filled it with fluid.  It sat all week and did not leak.  Today I actually mounted it,  tightened the bolts and it started to leak.  It leaks on the face where there is a big O-ring between the pump and reservoir. It didnt look like it was tweeked but I dont know anymore.  The original had a narrow neck reservoir like MCfan picture, and the reman has a wide reservoir which makes it hard to get the belt on.  Any parts supplier I look at has the wide reservoir fitting this application not the narrow.  I dont know where to go from here.  

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If you have a large "you pull" salvage yard anywhere around, I would snag one there, pick up a rebuild kit at the local parts store and carefully install it.  At least you know it will fit if it came off another first gen Monte.   Leo might be able to fix you up, also.  I know many GM parts are interchangeable but the various makes and models were famous for tweaking things to their own liking, often for a good but non-obvious reason. 

I had a very bad experience with a re-manufactured master cylinder that was a Bendix.  The car was built with a Delco Morraine master but the Bendix was supposed to be completely interchangeable. Even after two units (the first one had an incorrect piston in it which wouldn't prime or work at all), I could never stop the small amount of fluid seepage between the master and the booster.  No more reman stuff for me - rebuilt original is often better that new repop stuff, as well.

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I agree with Dennis on the rebuilt stuff especially master cylinder but on the power steering pump the only way I could find a new one was without the housing and on mine I'm pretty sure it was the housing out of shape. so I really didn't have a choice. I would return it for another one and hope for the best. I will try to find new parts every time as opposed to rebuilt.

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Where are you getting these pumps from? A while back I had trouble with a customer's car, kept getting bad P/S pumps from NAPA. The people who rebuild them for NAPA was A1-Cardone. Just about every other parts supplier in the area used them as well. Finally, of all places I called Autozone (always my last resort) and they used a different reman company. Ended up putting that one in and solved the problem. I hate doing things twice, so by the third pump I was pretty annoyed. Whenever I see Cardone now, I still get a little stomach acid (it must be the stubborn dago in me).

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