67 Firebird 400 - Finally getting around to my very noisy steering pump. Pulled the pump off tonight, fun going through that maze of bolts holding the alternator and power steering pump together. Anyway, got it off. Now what?

Should i have it rebuilt, I've found a couple of places ranging from less than $50 to $129.
Or should I just buy a new one. Reading through here I'm afraid that a new one might not fit back up correctly.

It's all original with the reservoir on it. Would like to keep it that way.

Any thoughts? The cheaper rebuild was from pontiacparts.net - http://www.pontiacparts.net/Chassis/page28.htm
Every dealt with them?

Thanks
Hef

I bought a rebuilt pump from the local parts house and switched the original housing to keep pump looking original. It was several years ago so I don't remember exactly but I don't recall switching the housing being hard to do.

You should be able to get it rebuilt through most local parts places. Or they will know where else you can. If it's original, I'd keep it original.

My experience was like Dennis.
If you can take the pump off, you can do the rest also!
Cal

Okay, I'm not seeing how to open up that housing. Guess I should pull the Pulley off first to get a good look. Still confused though on what to buy. My local Autozone has this - http://www.autozone.com/?loggingIn=true&_requestid=1694408
Would I have to pull the actual pump out that housing and put it in mine? or does that whole pump go into my housing.
Sorry, just started this process, I'm sure it will all clear up soon.

The screw in pressure fitting in the Rear of the pump needs to be removed as well as the other bolts on the rear. Then the pump will slide out of the resivior

Here is a photo.
At the top there is a stud, at the bottom you have the connector to the low pressure side hose, and at around 7:00 you have a spring loaded thing that comes out of the pump ( it will just fall out if i turn the pump over)

What do I take off to allow the pump to slide out of the housing? Does it just slide out easily or is it pressed in there?
Trying to keep my options open, if I can slide a new pump into there that sure sounds easy.


[image]https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO6IyMifJ_pd6Z1O9yDaoXbIHjOigt7nwHkXszX

The pic requires some type of log in...
The pump will just slide out, it is not pressed in.
Cal

Sorry about that pic, apparently I'm image challenged.
I've got everything off the back of the housing except for the Return Line Hose connector. I'm assuming that is threaded into the pump and keeping the pump and housing together.

The Return Line connector does not have a nut on it, it appears to me that it is welded or braised to the housing. Although when I pull up photos of parts on the web such as Rock Auto, they show this part with a threaded end and a 5/8" or so hex to thread it in and tighten it. I can try to just unscrew the connector, apparently I can buy all new parts anyway.

Thoughts?

Return line is silver soldered or braised to the housing. Remove only the pressure line fitting.
I purchased my pump from Advanced Auto Parts, part #20-6117.

Thanks, so you bought the pump and housing together. Did it fit up without problem, I guess it's really only the stud location in the back that is important, so it fits onto the bracket properly, and of course that the pulley lines up.
So if I have everything unbolted that needs to be, this pump should slide out of the housing, it's not happening.

I never got the pulley off the old pump, not an easy task. Assuming it's a normal Right Hand Thread, but I can't get it off.

Any part #s for a new Pulley and Nut to hold it?

I added these parts to a shopping cart in AutoZone - http://www.autozone.com/cart/cart.jsp - Pump looks just like the Cardone from AdvancedAuto, but it's a Duralast model.

Some pulleys were pressed on, and some used a key way like a crankshaft pulley.

Got It. I put the pump housing in a vice and the pump pulled right out. Easy stuff when you know what the heck you're doing.

So now I can simply buy this pump and slide it in. http://www.autozone.com/suspension-steer.../?checkfit=true

Any thoughts on that?

Thanks again
Hef

You should be good to go with that.
Do not know how you got the pulley off. A-Z should have a tool that you can borrow to pull it off and press it back on. Hope you got a good handle on where the pulley sat on the shaft so that you can put it back on in about the same place...
Cal

Just got the pulley off. Local tire center helped me out. I'm pretty sure the pulley just bottoms out on the shaft, then washer and nut tightens it down.

Guess that's not true, I'll have to figure a way to know how far to put that pulley back on.
So, with nothing else to do, I just took the whole pump apart. Some nice webpages out there showing all of the parts that make up a Saginaw Pump.
After taking it apart, I'm wondering why it failed so badly, or maybe it wasn't the pump, but the Gear Box that makes all the noise. Now I'm looking into a way to flush the gearbox without a pump attached to it.

So here's a quick update - Did I mention I hate spending money? Bought this kit from Amazon -
Edelman O Ring Kit

The pump is fully disassembled and cleaned. I started to put it back together last night, plan to finish it today. I bought both of the hoses, Pressure Hose and Return Hose, those were both installed last night, for some reason the Pressure hose is not oriented correctly, need to fix that.
Oh, and getting the old hoses out was high on the difficulty meter. I never owned Crow Foot wrenches, so I bought a set. Borrowed my neighbors 1/2 inch drive stuff, he has everything you ever need. the Pressure hose came out easier, but we had to heat up the Return fitting, then we took a tubing cutter and cut the line so we could fit a socket over it, had to hammer the socket on because the fitting nut had become deformed, Really had to crank on it, but it finally loosened.

The pump itself is extremely simple to mess around with, comes apart neatly and I'm assuming it will go back together the same. I cleaned up everything, hard to understand even why it failed, hoping that the little fins were gummed up and not sliding. I cleaned and painted the housing.
Putting the full unit back together, the way the alternator fits with it on the same brackets will be a pain, but I've got some beers to work with.

I'll report results later today.

Thanks
Hef

Okay, anyone have any nice drawings of how the Brackets line up with power steering pump and alternator, I' struggling with this thing.

Thanks
Hef

this might help you

I found this - GM Firebird Steering

Nice drawing in there.

I'm Done! - Took a good 3 hours or so to get the pump installed, I flushed out some nasty stuff that came out of the Gear Box first, then continued to bleed it properly. The pump is working perfectly! If I take it all the way to the stops I get a squeal but we think that is coming from the belt. I can deal with that, how often do I need to hit the limits of the turn radius...not very.

It was a fun adventure, about $40 for the two hoses and O Ring kit. Another $25 for the Crow Foot wrench set to get those hoses off. Couple quarts of Fluid and that's it.

Thanks everyone
Hef

Hef, when you turn it all the way to the stops it should squeal - or groan/chatter actually.
It could be your belt loose and squealing, but when you reach the stops the bypass/pressure relief valves open and you get the *notice* to lay off the wheel. Completely normal in a hydraulic system.
Cal