thomas1

Hey I finally am going to attempt this, all these years and never have had to replace a power steering pump, but my mother in laws cars pump had it. Has anyone had any experience doing so. The kit is around $20 versus $151 for the pump for her nissan sentra. I see the pumps are all basically the same on all cars. If you have tips or feed back give to me.....

salimshah

Before the mods kick this out ...

I looked at the rebuild/buy-refurbished/buy-new Steering pump for my son's sc.

My understanding is that the rebuild kit has new seals and you must have a medium duty work vise (sp?). The kit does not have the vanes and spring. The compression is obtained by squeezing the fluid into smaller and smaller volume by the sliding vanes. When you open the pump, you are supposed to measure the thickness of the vanes and replace them if needed.

So if the problem can be fixed by opening the pump up and replacing each provided item in the kit, you will be fine. And remember to pre-lube every part with fluid ... dont assemble dry.

Back on SC, the steering pump sits right on top of the alternator and rest of the car is in excellent shape, and I was not paying anyone for labor, I got the new steering pump.

Salim

thomas1

Thanks, this one one item I have never touched....I have rebuilt transmissions and engines, so hopefully this is not rocket science....

salimshah

It is fairly simple.

One trick, you may like to loosen the pulley bolt while you have the belt providing friction, else you will need an impact wrench or some contraption to break the initial bind.

I also needed a gear puller to detach the pulley.

In case you end up replacing hoses, the return pipe has a inline pressure reducer inside the hose (typically).

Salim

thomas1

Thanks Salim, yes I have a impact wrench, as Code58 said, more tools than a man should have.....or something to that effect....

thomas1

Ok, got my parts last night and rebuilt the power steering pump. Was a walk in the park. Now Friday I will install it in mother in laws car and see how it does....The only hard part was a wire clip on the end of the main shaft, challenged me to take it off and put the new one on. So the rebuild kit was very complete, every seal and even the mainshaft seal.

salimshah

Did you find a bad part, as you took the old one apart.

I personally hate just disassemble - reassemble without finding out what was wrong.

Salim

thomas1

I cheated, bought a used pump and rebuilt it. all parts looked great except the front seal. But I cleaned the entire thing and lubed it up....I will find out today, I am going to head down to mother in laws and put it in with some new hoses also....

Her pump in the car was very noisey when turning by hand, the used one was very quiet, so wish me luck....

thomas1

Success, the old pump did have wobble in the main shaft. Her car is back in business and the pump is quiet. Now I can say I rebuilt a power steering pump....

salimshah

And brownie points from mother-in-law.

If you used new hoses, make sure the pressure reducer is in place. Also the hoses are of right pressure rating .... the pressure only drops after the reducer.

Salim

code58

Thomas- was wondering if indeed the pump shaft used a bolt to hold the pulley on. It seems like a lot of them use the friction method that requires a special puller kit.

thomas1

The pump shaft had a threaded bolt end with a serrated section where the pulley attached. Then a nut screws on to lock the pulley to the shaft. The other end inside the pump had a serrated end for the pump vanes. The carrier for the vanes was locked on by a spring clip. Nice design, easy to rebuild. The main shaft was supported by a bearing race similiar to crankshaft bearings, except one piece round race with grooves for lubrication....My replacement had no play in the bearing so I was good to go...

habeeb89

iTrader: (3)

I had the power steering pump go bad on the RX, if I remember correctly it cost a arm and a leg to replace at the dealership.

thomas1

Yes, I had no idea these pumps were so expensive. Here is a discounted price:

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0

Please note: the one I rebuilt was for a nissan, but they are all similiar....

However the seal kit for the Lexus power steering Pump is only $25

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0

Arden

I am not sure if this is the power steering pump