Dealer wants 450 to change pump!!!

[Dennis1188]

What a rip-off!!!
Dealer wants 450.00 to change the noisy power steering pump on my 96 Sport.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Are you going to do it yourself? You will need the pulley remover/installer tools. Autozone has them in their tool loaner program.

 

[Dennis1188]

Well, thanks to this great forum, I think I will make an attempt to change it myself. I will ask an associate at Autozone and hopefully he will know about that tool you are talking about.

 

[BrooklynBay]

http://www.explorerforum.com/Singleton/web/pages/pspump.html. One important tip: use a special tool made by Lisle to remove the return line from the lower part of the pump. I once broke off a piece of the old pump before I knew about this tool. http://www.eppys.com/ProductHighlight.aspx?ProductID=2039

 

[surf]

Since you are saving so much by doing the work yourself you may want to replace the pressure hose and return line at the same time.

 

[Dennis1188]

Since you are saving so much by doing the work yourself you may want to replace the pressure hose and return line at the same time.

Great idea... just curious... about how long are those line and where what do they connect to?

 

[BrooklynBay]

The pump circulates fluid into the rack & pinion. Some systems contain a cooler & a filter, but most are just a 2 part system. You could add a cooler & a filter if you want. My 88 has an electric pump that replaces the belt driven pump. It was a modification that I did many years ago. I had to design an electronic module to control the timing cycle of how long the pump will run every time the steering wheel is moved.

 

[Dennis1188]

Thanks; I am going to start this later today.
Feel free to say otherwise but my plan is to remove the pump with hoses attached.
I will take the pump and hoses to Autozone. I will buy a new pump and hoses and ask them to do the pulley switch thing and when I get back home, I will bleed the system according to the article contributed by drbob.
Unless you guys say otherwise this is my plan... wish me luck.
I will post many step-by-step photos in a couple of days.

 

[surf]

Is your pump just noisy or is it actually leaking or otherwise failing? If the noise bothers you I would suggest you stay away from the Cardone pumps. I installed one on my X and despite bleeding the system and getting all the air out it is still very noisy. It has gotten better over time but it is still noisier than the stock pump was.

 

[Dennis1188]

It is very, very noisy and the fluid color is almost black.
This is what Auotzone has...

 

[Maniak]

IIRC, at least on the OHV motors, you cant pull the pump off without taking off the pulley first, less you take the pump + bracket off together.

~Mark