P/S pump "break in"?

Reply #30 – August 09, 2009, 03:53:55 PM

Dribble a little water on the rib side of the belt with a turkey baster while it is running. If the noise goes away you know it's a belt problem.

Turning the belt around so it runs in the opposite direction may help.
I had lots of noise with a Pirelli belt.
The NAPA belt I have on now is nice and quite.

P/S pump "break in"?

Reply #31 – August 10, 2009, 07:08:20 PM

use a Robinair vac pump for a.c. evacuation, connected to a sacrificial p.s. reservior cap via jic/an to npt fitting. p.s. this pic has nothing to do with the thread,just trying to figure how to upload from remote server,sorry.

P/S pump "break in"?

Reply #32 – August 10, 2009, 08:28:48 PM

I'd leave that to my oil less pump that pulls 28". I don't need to be gumming up my Robinair with this filthy stuff. I pull a system clean with the first and pull full vacuum with the second.

So just modify a cap. I didn't know if there was some other way. All I've seen and heard shops do is the whole raise front end and turn from side to side thing. Vacuum DOES sound much quicker though.

P/S pump "break in"?

Reply #33 – August 23, 2009, 11:32:25 PM

X2 on the belt chirp too. Mine chirps because of an embossed logo on the back side of the belt. I just put a new rack/pump/hoses on one of mine this weekend. Very quiet, all of it. I never gave pump/rack mismatch a thought, and wound up with the 2.5 turn rack. BUT, a big difference is, I did NOT pour fluid in it and then use the engine to pump out the air. That will cause foaming of the fluid, and you'll NEVER get all the air out unless you use a vacuum pump.

What I did was:

Left the belt off.
Turned the pump by hand with the rack centered until it quit bubbling back into the reservoir.
Turned it to right lock, repeated.
Turned it to left lock, repeated.
Back to center, and repeat.
At each position, I kept the reservoir topped off so as not to pump more air in. Turning it by hand also guaranteed I wasn't going to spray Type F all over my basp00get if I screwed up somewhere.
Finally, when I was satisfied no more air was coming out, I put the belt back on and fired it up. Quiet as a mouse, except for the crickets on steroids (belt squeaks) No whine whatsoever unless I go to left or right lock. ANY hydraulic pump is going to whine if it's stalled and relieving. The main source of belt squeak is going to come from the water pump pulley since it uses the flat side of the belt, and can easily trap air under the belt. ANYTHING greasy or oily on that belt or the pulley is going to result in some nasty squeaks, and probably glazing of the backside of the belt. Not to worry. Scuff the WP pully with some 80 grit paper, put the belt on, and scuff the backside of the belt. Easy peasy.

I also have to ask if you got the hoses on in the right holes on the rack. Return line goes in the hole closest to the firewall (back). Pressure line closest to the radiator. Hook those up backward, and you'll probably destroy the rack and the pump.

Failing bearings is usually a good sign the belt is TOO tight. You'll be putting in a water pump soon too if you're killing PS Pump bearings. Tighten it enough to stop the squealing, then quit, especially on cars equipped with a screwdown type idler adjustment. This is one of the reasons I LOVE the spring loaded idlers on newer vehicles. I want one on each of my Birds. If something starts stalling, the idler just gives way and lets the belt slip. I'd rather slip a belt than break something off. Not to mention, a belt change takes all of 5 minutes with the spring type idlers.

Both the water pump and PS Pump use sleeve bearings. The crank bearing is massive enough it doesn't even notice the tension. But the WP and PS bearings are pretty small, and like I said, just SLEEVES. The alternator and air pump use roller bearings, and the idler has ball bearings. They'll stand the tension a lot better. That is NOT to say you can't fatigue the shafts, though. The alternator pully is so small, not much of a moment arm there. As compared with the rest, though, they're all large pulleys, and put a lot of force on the shaft. Belts are amazingly strong, and can do severe damage if over tightened. The PS hoses should not get hot other than from ambient engine bay heat. That's why there's no cooler in that system. If they are, something is terribly wrong. The loud whine and hot hoses suggest a stalled pump that is bypassing, regardless of what kind of fluid you put in it, short of water.