power steering pump?

[rancherman84]

how much end play should the pump have?
yesterday morn.i started the old girl and heard a small sqealing sound,popped the hood and found 3 of the 6 grooves gone from the serp.belt
drove it to work like that(no heat in driveway)and removed the old belt,checked all pulleys,idlers and stuff and the only thing loose is the power steering pump.
the pump sounds good and is full of fluid.installed the extra belt and all seems fine, any thoughts.thanks

 

[IDIeselman]

All the pumps I have ever seen and even new out of the box will have about an 1/8" of end play or more, you should be fine. it was propobly just time for a new belt and even these trucks now it's almost Christmas.
Tim

 

[rancherman84]

the belt that was on there wasnt very old,installed it when i did the waterpump.
my pump has alot more than 1/8",maybe closer to 3/8" or 7/16" ,but its not leaking at this point

 

[towcat]

what style tensioner do you have? When the tensioner gets old, the aluminum distorts and forces the belt to "walk". If you can see your tensioner spring on the tensioner, its time to do an update. See the "parts bin"for the update p/n's

 

[rancherman84]

i have the style with the shock absorber,i have asked before what the updated style looks like,but got no replies.
its a june of 92 engine and truck build date

 

[towcat]

i have the style with the shock absorber,i have asked before what the updated style looks like,but got no replies.
its a june of 92 engine and truck build date

if you have the shock on yours, it should be an update. But furd is not selling that one anymore, I tried to order one but the "nice&helpfull" countermen(not) at the stealership didn't have a pic of one, so therefore in their minds, it no longer exists. Bottom line, if the tensioner spring is visible, its an original mfg. if the spring is enclosed by the aluminum housing, its an update, when that one distorts, it starts rubbing on the two parts making it very obvious that its time to replace. the one with the shock, I have very little experience with so I can't comment.

 

[rancherman84]

thanks towcat that clears things up a little.
i dont think its the tensioner,but i will recheck it.

 

[towcat]

When you have a chance to in the morning, take a look at how the "new" belt is wearing on the backside. If the lettering is wearing off evenly, the whole thing may have been a fluke. check to see how all the pulleys line up. the belt "should" be riding in the middle. Unlike GM who uses sheet metal stampings that like to bend with age, Furd in their wisdom(for once), uses aluminum castings for their accesory brackets. They tend not to bend but rather break when fatigued.

 

[rancherman84]

two things i noticed this afternoon when looking real quick,
1-the belt appears to be slighty off center on the smooth pulley under the tensioner pulley
2-the vacum pump pulley had some fine black dust?,or very,very small pieces of belt on it.
i did not check the lettering on the belt,have to investigate futher tomorrow