Power steering(?) Squealing

Hey folks,
I've got some squealing coming from one of my accessories. I'm pretty sure it's the power steering pump or it's pulley (probably the pulley.) I've sprayed wd40 onto the pulley while it's running and squealing and the sound drops right off.

I took the belt off and it looks pretty good, I have a replacement for it anyway. So I'm thinking either the pump is bad, which could be the case as I get strange grinding vibrations coming through the steering wheel when the squealing is really bad and the car is idling in drive. Or it's just a bad bearing.

The car in question is a 79 242 with the b21 engine.

I'm wonder where you guys would recommend finding a new pulley or a new bearing to install in the pulley. I can find whole new pumps for sale but I'd like to keep that as a last resort. Unless the new pulley comes out to 90+ dollars as I've seen on other sites. At that point I'd just buy a whole new pump for 160.

How are the bushings ?

I bet the bushings are fubar, check where the pump mounts, there are some rubber bushings that fail with age.

Hey there, late reply sorry.

The belt didn't appear to be the problem. I'm thinking the pulley bushings are the problem. With the belt off I was able to wiggle the pulley forward and backward a little. Is there a good place to pick those up?

ipd I've used in the past people say the bushings are junk but they seem to be holding up FCP euro i.p.d. partsgeek there pretty common. I'd lightly sand the pulley to break the glaze on it if your spraying oil on it scotchbright should work

RealHumanBean said:

I've got some squealing coming from one of my accessories. I'm pretty sure it's the power steering pump or it's pulley (probably the pulley.)

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Loose, worn, out-of-alignment, or slipping belts will squeal.

I've sprayed wd40 onto the pulley while it's running and squealing and the sound drops right off.

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The idea is to prevent the belt from slipping, not encourage it.

I get strange grinding vibrations coming through the steering wheel when the squealing is really bad

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Slipping belt or really low fluid can do that.

or a new bearing to install in the pulley.

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The pulley doesn't have a bearing. It's pressed onto the shaft that comes out the front of the pump. The support bearings live inside the pump.

I'm thinking the pulley bushings are the problem.

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The pulley doesn't have bushings, either. The ones mentioned are for mounting the pump assembly to the side of the engine. They're made of rubber, and over time can deform and allow the pump to sit crooked, throwing the belt out of alignment. That can cause squealing.

With the belt off I was able to wiggle the pulley forward and backward a little.

Click to expand...

Most of the pumps I've dealt with (on many brands of cars) have a tiny bit of in/out shaft play. It's normal until it gets REALLY bad (internal parts breaking), or starts moving side-to-side.


Pump (pulley presses onto shaft):




Rubber bushings (for mounting pump to engine):

Hm, well the fluid level is good, I checked it when it started making the sound. It could be the belt I suppose. But when I spray the front of the pump, directly on the front of the pulley the sound drops off. Sounds like I might have to do a little bit of experimenting to figure it out.