Replacing idler pulley and need to confirm something..

[Brookes65]

So horrible whining sound screamed from engine, idle ran up dropped down a little .. very sticky while doing so... The engine was about to die when I turned off the engine...

Further inspection showed the idler pulley mounting bracket had some damage to it which and the idler pulley itself had some back and forth play that confirmed that I should go ahead of replace it...

I spun the pulley's and the all spun fine... noticed the P/S pulley also had a little play in it... OH.. and replaced the water pump not too long ago and it was late my husband and were both tired and realized only after we calked the gasket sealant onto the new gasket and were getting ready to mate the parts... well that the old gasket was totally not all gone... some area's were .. some weren't.. so now I saw around the edges of the water pump look a little wet (suspiciously in the portions where the gasket was half on and corroaded ).. so I'm replacing the water pump gasket properly this time...

Anyhow.. when inspecting all this stuff I noticed that a a bit of coolant/water had created a small pool right on the upper intake i'm assuming this happened at the last few moments the truck had been on the day before.

What else would have caused the coolant to be there?

Are you suppose to able to turn the crankshaft pulley by hand?? I can't ..noticed this when I changed my water pump but after puting everything back together it ran great for a bit which made me think it was normal...

 

[Maniak]

With the spark plugs in, its gonna be hard to rotate the crank by hand (with a wrench on the end).. Pull the plugs and it will turn easier.

There is a heater hose that connects at the lower intake manifold. Even on our '92 which was/is an Arizona Vehicle we had enough corrosion on the host nipple that we started to get some anti freeze on the intake. In our case I just pushed the hose down more when we replaced the hose and pushed the clamp down farther as well. When we rebuilt our motor I used a different intake which had a hose nipple in better condition..

BTW.. the bearing on the Idler pulley and the Tensioner Pulley are the same and can be found at most bearing shops. Just knock out the old one, take it in the the bearing shop and they will sell you a good one. Put some Indian Shelak (gorilla snot) around the inside of the pulley and push/knock in the new bearing. I use the old bearing and a block of wood between the new bearing and the hammer as I knock the new one in.

~Mark

 

[Brookes65]

Hey if I replace the power steering pump will that fix the crappy pulley that is attached. After some further inspection I realized the pulley for the PS pump pushes in and out about 1/4 in or so and when it is turned it is not smooth and feels like crap...

If I replace the pump (my husband dropped a piece of the broken ps pump cap like was like 3/4 inch long and is slivered in shape into the resevoir itself ( ..) Figured while I am digging that piece out I mind as well rebuild the ps pump ..

If I replace the pump will this fix the pulley issue? I mean other than the play in the pulley the pulley looks visibly fine.. which seemed to be an issue.. (looks like the fluid is contaminated) (just felt cruddy)

Or should I just suck it up and buy the pulley too and replace it... ??? I know it's only like $15 bucks.. but I just got this truck and I did a ton of preventative stuff which added up... one job turned into two or three and I'm hurting for the cash..

 

[surf]

Is the pulley moving on the shaft or is the shaft to the power steering moving. If the shaft itself is moving you may need to replace the pump. You can reuse the existing pulley but you will need a special tool to remove and reinstall the pulley.

 

[Brookes65]

Thanks! I needed that little tid bit of information ... it was the factor I didn't know which would determine if I should be replacing the pump or the pulley.. I am tackling some of the work today so I will keep you posted! Thanks again

 

[boggs1227]

on a side note ... i was looking at ps pumps not to long ago and i looked at auto z and napa ....to my amazement the 2 stores had the same parts ,right down to the product descriptions same-same. but napa wanted more money for their pumps when compared to auto z .useally i buy from napa when it comes to pumps and otherthings accessory wise instead of auto z or advance auto cause they always have better quality stuff .

 

[Brookes65]

So I went to my favorite auto zone... I'm a girl .. always wrenching on my own trucks so I have a good relationship with them... usually they don't blow me off just because I am a girl (most places do ... ) and when I went in with the Chilton Manuals Tool number for the pulley puller and asked them to cross reference this with the proper tool so that I could make sure it was correct.... (((( new guy at the counter)))) ... got me the tool.. barely looked at the paper I handed him... I asked again for him to double check the tool and he half ass*d checked it...

I got into the car... walked back in ... asked him again.. he rushed me out by making light of my worried tone...

I drove all the heck over to Pick and Pull... stood over the damn truck realized I had left some sockets I needed..(was breaking some bolts with a 10MM wrench that was like 6 inches long!) STARTED TO GET IRRITATED needed to pull the A/C compressor off and entire power steering pump to gain access to the freakin pulley... beat off a few creepy dudes googling at me working on the truck... attached the pulley puller... IT DIDN"T FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT DIDN'T FIT... I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!

NEEDLESS TO SAY .... IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE PROJECTS..... AND ALSO... IT WASN'T THE F*ING PULLEY... MY DAD RECOMMENDED I JUST REPLACE THE IDLER PULLEY AND BRACKET AND TRY THAT OUT FIRST... THE CRAZY SOUNDS QUIETED BUT STILL A WHINE AND THE ENGINE DID THE SAME THING AT IDLE AND IF I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE GAS THE RPMS DROPPED TOO LOW AND IT WOULD START TO DIE SO I JUST TURNED IT OFF....

 

[boggs1227]

so you replaced the idler pully and the whine was still there ... and you said the engine died as soon as the gas was let off .yeah still sounds like the p/s pump shaft/pully is seizing on you and makeing it hard to turn ...mean the pump is shot .

just try to go back to the pull-apart yard and try to grab that pump you were trying to remove the pully off of . if money is a concern then a used p/s pump should only be $15-20 ( 17.95 where i'm at) ,also remember to replace the o-rings in the power steering lines when you have the newer pump ready to install ...easier to do when you have it all apart .

 

[surf]

If you decide to take the whole pump you can get it off without removing the AC compressor. The portion of the bracket that holds the PS pump is shaped like a horseshoe. You just need to remove the three bolts on the front of the pump and slide the pump out the bottom.

 

[Brookes65]

The outline of the project...

Feeling completely defeated...

1) I replaced the idler pulley and the bracket. (with the one from pick and pull)

2)I put the belt back on it..

3) flushed the PS pump 2 time's because the fluid was so horrible.. (still looked crappy when I was done but my dad said it was fine ... looks like a dark burgandy color... even when I flushed it and refilled 2 time's...)

4) wiped defeated tear from my eye... dialed my dad asked for help... (he blew me off 2 time's then finally he got my point of how important this was)

5) put the air tube back on
6) started the engine ....

................sounded like it was sucking... or whirring.. which started to gradually get louder after about 35 seconds...
(guess when I had the belt off and let it run... i wasn't able to let it run long enough to notice that part of the sound was still there.)

engine started to do the shaky .. I'm going to die .. dance... so I kept my foot on the gas while my father investigated....

Turned it off.... we both looked at each other puzzled... my dad asked about the vacuum lines... (which I had gone over 2 time's to make sure everything was connected)...

In showing him the routing he found A hose to the evap container I believe.. which was clearly and obviously disconnected!!!!!!!!!! He reconnected it...

Started it up... choppy for about 20 seconds.. then purred like a kitten again!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grrrr... This one almost broke my spirits too..