FAQ: Power Steering Pump & Hoses - Noise & Problems

I've got a similar problem with mine, 95 riv supercharged; the steering is hard as hell until I tap the gas, and then it loosens right up while the gas is applied, when i release the gas at low speed, the wheel doesnt want to turn at all. Would this be to do with the magnasteer box?

jamie wrote:

I've got a similar problem with mine, 95 riv supercharged; the steering is hard as hell until I tap the gas, and then it loosens right up while the gas is applied, when i release the gas at low speed, the wheel doesnt want to turn at all. Would this be to do with the magnasteer box?

No.

I think your power steering pump has Bitten the Big One.

Magnasteer makes steering stiffer at speed, lighter at lower *vehicle* speed (as shown by the VSS). If you are having less steering boost and *low* engine speed and more at higher engine speed, then you are having a power steering pump failure.

Fortunately, the good remanufactured PS pumps for these cars are *cheap* - get a used one from Ed Morad or a reman Cardone from RockAuto.com or locally, so you get one with a working electronic variable orifice valve (the Magnasteer thingy). While you are in there check the belts and tensioners. Look on the belt for missing chunks of rubber. If you find chunks of rubber missing (belt is 90+% gone at that point), or more than one crack per inch on a few consecutive inches running (belt is 80+% gone at that point), replace belt. Minor checking does note count. Turn the pulleys. Any squeak, gind or other resistance - replace pulley.

If you need instructions on how to check the tensioner, how to get the belts off, and such - please repost.


Albertj

Thanks for the quick reply!

I work at an auto salvage, luckily we have 31 of these in stock thanks to the same pump fitting 96-05 bonnevilles, park avenues and le sabres, 96-99 olds eighty eights, 95-99 rivieras, 95 regals and 96 olds ninety-eights

Its nice to finally need something that is broadly interchanged. lol

I would say my belt is about 80% trash. it has consistant small cracks all around. I replaced the tensioner about this time last year, but will certainly take the opportunity to inspect the idler/tensioner.

Again, thanks for the response!

jamie wrote:

Thanks for the quick reply!

I work at an auto salvage, luckily we have 31 of these in stock thanks to the same pump fitting 96-05 bonnevilles, park avenues and le sabres, 96-99 olds eighty eights, 95-99 rivieras, 95 regals and 96 olds ninety-eights

Its nice to finally need something that is broadly interchanged. lol

I would say my belt is about 80% trash. it has consistant small cracks all around. I replaced the tensioner about this time last year, but will certainly take the opportunity to inspect the idler/tensioner.

Again, thanks for the response!

you are welcome

consistent small cracks in the belt are not an 'emergency' but are an 'end of life' signal kind of like 'low ink' on an inkjet printer, not out yet but you been warned...

if that tensioner was new it's likely still good... if not just see if the pullies are straight, free spinning and on axis, and if the tensioner spring works smoothly. of course you should need big wrench or breaker bar to move it but is should move smoothly. Easy end of life sign for a tensioner is if it jumps around erratically when engine is running and gets revved, means spring is whacked or pulley is binding.

Albertj

i am losing power steering fluid pretty fast it looks like it coming from the pump or the hose coming from the pump i am planning on changing the seals in the pump but do i have to change the whole hose which looks like a hard job or can i repair the hose any advice would be greatly appreciated

the rubber part of the hose

My hose just crapped out too. Get a replacement and swap her in.

are you gonna replace it or repair it

rocafella1 wrote:

are you gonna replace it or repair it

just get a replacement, this is a repair you luck out on.

if you know what you are doing you can use band clamps and rubber pressure hose to replace the rubber part but a sudden failure could be life-changing. The swaged hoses are less subject to failure from installation/repair error.

how hard of a job is it and is there a write up on changing the the hoses i looked but could'nt find one

do one of you guys know where i can find a write up for replacing the power steering lines i been looking ,but no luck

Are you still looking for those power steering lines. I am provide you details where you can get those?

joshuatim, if there is a credible source for acquiring these parts, please post the link in this thread.

Note to members: at this time, please do NOT contact joshuatim for your Buick parts needs.

Plews/Edelman part numbers:

Pressure
Pressure Line Assembly 91783
Return
Return Line Assembly 91795

What to do - go to a full line parts store like a NAPA or CarQuest and ask them to cross reference that number to hoses they *can* get.

Alternative: Have a shop make up the hoses for you. It will cost about the same as buying new. In St Paul it will be easy to find a shop that makes hydraulic hoses up. Take the old ones in and they will easily make you a set that will fit.

Ok, so this summer I was out of town doing an internship and the Riveira left me high and dry. All of a sudden I lost power steering. Upon inspection I found my serpentine belt shredded and after looking further found that the power steering pump was completely loose. The two power steering pump bolts and sheered off inside the engine block. No mechanics would touch it for liability reasons.

Long story short, with basic hand tools and a small floor jack, I removed the engine motor mounts, tilted the engine using a floor jack and managed to extract the sheered bolts, redrilled the block with a hand drill and tap/dyed and heli coiled both holes. I then replaced all the pullies on the side of the motor with nice metal aftermarket ones, also new serpentine and supercharger belts. This was the biggest pain in the ass I've ever experienced since the power steering pump is on the bottom back of the motor only a few inches from the inner fender well.

10k miles later, driving on the highway I held a clinking noise. Upon inspect it has done exactly the same god damn thing. What the heck could be causing this?!?!?!

Any ideas would be wonderful. All the pullies including the water pump spin easily. I even periodically checked the belts to make sure they were aligned still and there were no issues.

Is there any history on the pump? Was it ever removed for any reason? Was there a fluid leak?

If there was a fluid leak, PS fluid is such a good penetrating oil that it will work loose nearby bolts in short time. In our Acura Lemons racer we had a PS leak that directly contributed to the alternator becoming loose and eventually becoming detached from its mount, throwing the belt. The bolts had worked loose and fell out.

My best guess is something similar happened in your case. Maybe both screws backed out so far, then vibration + stress caused them to sheer off one at a time.

ya thats the theory I've been going off of as well

I'm guessing maybe the pump is seizing up. The torque on the pump from the large pulley may be enough to rip it off the motor. I've never heard of it happening this way, but it's the only thing I can think of that would have enough torque to shear the bolts off!

Continued discussion from a question in the Belt Chirp thread:
https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t5509p180-faq-chirp-chirp-chirp-belt-squeal-pulley-tensioner-squeak#181627

I've removed the PS pump before. It's not hard at all - two bolts, I think. Disconnecting the PS hoses might be a bit more work, but shouldn't be that bad. If it were mine, I'd consider replacing the entire pump with as many miles as it has.

Yeah it seems straight forward, I'm just wondering since the pump is still functioning, whether I can get away with removing and replacing the pulley at the vehicle and not worry about replacing out the entire pump.

Takes two 13MM bolts. You'll have to feel around for them, but they're there. Be careful reaching around the pulley. I cut my hand pretty good because there was a sharp piece of metal hanging off the pulley.

Thanks for putting my original post in the right thread Aaron.

Has anyone had any experience with pulling the power steering pump pulley off when the pump is still attached to the engine? I only ask because my pump is still functional, my pulley is just wobbling and causing my belt to squeal. Would love to just switch out the pulley without taking everything off the block. Thanks!

Here are my thoughts - please understand I've never separated my PS pulley from the pump. This info is based on some web searching. Two things:

1) It seems the PS pulley is removed from the pump using a puller tool. I have used these for the AC clutch pulley - MUCH easier to do off the car, as you need some room to fit and use the tool. Here's a diagram:



The two bolts (#2) you see in the diagram are the ones I posted about earlier, for removing the pump.

2) Also from the diagram you can see the pulley is mounted to a shaft, which is assembled with bearings inside the pump. If you only replace the pulley, it may not include the shaft & bearings, so probably won't correct the wobble you're seeing.

A pulley sold at RockAuto appears to not include the shaft/bearings.

Gotcha. What I was planning on doing is renting the Autozone power steering pulley puller / installer and seeing if I can get the pulley off while the pump is still mounted to the engine. If the replacement pulley still wobbles I'll go through and do the whole pump job.

Just my 2 cents, but for me, replacing the whole pump and reservoir is easier than replacing just the pulley on the car.
$51 for acdelco pump w/reservoir Vs. $24 for new pulley.

You will still need the rental tool to get your pulley off to put on the "new" pump. Not hard to do off the car, its just pressed on.

I'm with Aaron that the wobble is from the bearing inside the pump, not a bad pulley. They are pretty heavy duty steel and there isnt any stress on it that would cause it to become mis-shapen and wobble.

You DEFINITELY don't want to try and take it off while the pump is mounted to the car. Trust me, it will destroy your arms and hands. It's a pain in the ass. I do this for a living.....
If anything, detach the pump from the car and let it hang. This will give you more space to take it off. Even then though, you'll be fighting yourself for leverage. The ideal spot to replace the P/S pulley is in a vice.
When I absolutely HAVE to take a pulley off on the car (some don't have holes to unbolt the pump), I use a 3ft long 1/2" ratchet with a 22" long box wrench....and it's still hard.  

Chances are, it isn't the pulley that's bad. I'm yet to see an actual bent P/S pulley that isn't part of a recall, or hasn't been in a wreck. 9.9 times out of 10, it's the pump itself that's bad. Take the belt off, grab the P/S pulley, and pull up/down in/out on it. It probably moves....

EDIT: as for removing the P/S pump, it MUST come out the bottom of the car. It will not physically fit going up. The vehicle needs to be on a hoist, or jacked up high enough for you to get under safely to remove it. It's a pretty standard procedure. Remove belt, remove hoses, unbolt the pump, and pull it out.

EDIT 2: I also looked up the actual procedure for removing the P/S pulley on the Riv. Line #2) REMOVE POWER STEERING PUMP FROM VEHICLE. Hope any of this helps...