Power steering bracket Help

[Techlight]

Hey all....

I am having trouble with my power steering pump and the top idler pulley not aligning correctly. My belt comes off that ilder pulley and dives in the direction of my firewall. It's squealing pretty bad and I can't figure it out. I replaced the original pump because I thought it was bad. At first it was fine, but now I'm having the same issue. I'm sure it's possible that the pully on the pump is overpressesd for my set up but I wanted to confirm the brackets before I went that route. Also, I'm buying used pumps with pulleys attached so I'm not sure if they are overpressed or not.

See pic for this part: I was told that my top idler pulley (#1 in photo) was out a bit too much and that the skinny plate and the L bracket (#2 in the photo) need to be installed in the reverse order. So basically I was told the L bracket might need to go on first and then the skinny plate and not the opposite (which is how it is now).

I can't remember how it was when I took it off and my mechanic couldn't say for sure. I can post a picture of the angle of the pump if need be.

Can anyone confirm the correct placement of these brackets please?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tinman]

Re: Power steering bracket

I think that's how mine was supposed to be, but the PO tossed some of my brackets and did it different.....and it didn't work very well. I'm was just missing that plate, so I fabricated something a bit different, and it worked, but then I switched to MPFI and needed to change it again!

Could you flip the pulley to get it to sit back a little?

 

[DHugg]

Techlight, I can see only one belt over your PS Pump pulley. Is that the only belt you have powering your accessories?

The attached photo shows a three-slot pulley on my engine's crank, and a double pulley on the PS Pump. When I put back the alternator in the empty space just to right of the shop light, it too has two belts driving it. There is a double pulley on the water pump, removed in this picture.

So my view would be that there isn't enough contact surface where the single belt meets the PS Pump pulley. The more wrap-around your belt has, the more turning friction there is to drive the pulley. And the more drive belts you have, the less wear and strain on each belt, and if a single belt breaks, all the engine-driven accessories (water pump and PS Pump being most important) don't die at the same time.

 

[mtnwhlr]

Techlight, I can see only one belt over your PS Pump pulley. Is that the only belt you have powering your accessories?

The attached photo shows a three-slot pulley on my engine's crank, and a double pulley on the PS Pump. When I put back the alternator in the empty space just to right of the shop light, it too has two belts driving it. There is a double pulley on the water pump, removed in this picture.

So my view would be that there isn't enough contact surface where the single belt meets the PS Pump pulley. The more wrap-around your belt has, the more turning friction there is to drive the pulley. And the more drive belts you have, the less wear and strain on each belt, and if a single belt breaks, all the engine-driven accessories (water pump and PS Pump being most important) don't die at the same time.

His has a Serpentine belt.

 

[Techlight]

Yeah, serpentine belt.

I have tried flipping that pulley around, but same problem. I've also tried swapping the spacers that are behind the pulleys. But maybe it's a combination of things. Can anyone confirm which way the pulley goes? Currently I have the "deep" sides facing the fan.

I may have to just toy with the brackets. Just didn't want to take it apart, then put it back together without asking around first. Those idler pulleys are new, so I may try my old ones while I'm at it just to see if the crown ones stick out more or something.

I was told I could grind the metal spacer down until it lines up, but I like to put things the way they're supposed to go...especially because even though I never drove the Jeep before the new motor went in, I know the PO couldn't have driven it the way it is. It's pretty loud and it seems to be eating power steering pumps (but this last part is speculation).

Anybody else with the serpentine setup wanna post a picture for me to look at or chime in on my issue?

Thanks again for the replies. This site has solved so many of my issues and it's always appreciated.

~James

 

[tinman]

Not sure how much this will help, as I have changed it a tad bit-
View attachment 17274

A little better look, but this is how I changed mine. I think I moved the actual pulley that you're talking about to the other side-
View attachment 17273

The stock pulley put on the other side-
View attachment 17275

All the above pics were done just as a mock up, more or less, and I ended up changing the drivers side pulley design when I did the MPFI due to having to change the thermostat housing and the intake-
View attachment 17276


Everything is working for now, but I'm sure I'll end up changing it once again.

 

[Techlight]

Thanks for the replies and the pictures.

I managed to get this sorted on friday. The brackets were in the wrong order. That L shaped bracket goes behind the diamond shaped one. Unfortunately, I had to pull a whole slew of that stuff off just to switch it, but it's running correctly with no angles now so I'm happy.

Thanks again for all the help.