heartless Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 the car: 1990 Legacy LS Wagon, Auto, AWD, about 206000miles on the clock. the problem: driving into town the other day, after stopping for a light, went to take off and heard what sounded like belt squealing - actually thought it was the car next to me at first, but no, it was my car... next traffic light, same thing, take off from stop and it is screaming again, not just for a couple of seconds, but for more like 2 blocks before it finally quit. another light - again, it starts screaming... drove over to the other half's workplace - nice warm shop with tools - popped the hood, and manually revved the motor, screams bloody murder, sounds like either the alternator, or the power steering pump - coming from up high... for the record, the belt is fairly new - this past summer - and is in good condition - did not appear to be slipping. shut car off and grap a socket wrench, loosen the alt and pull the belt. Alt pulley spins very nicely, no funny noises, no binding, no sloppiness. power steering pulley, not so much. I can move the pully in & out (forward/back) about 1/8th of an inch, and there is a small amount of side to side motion. there have been no problems noted with steering, it doesnt bind or feel loose or anything like that, steering 'feels' fine. Put the belt back on, retensioned and the darn thing has not made a sound since (have put about 200-250 mi on the car since this incident) beginning to wonder if the car wasnt just being b*t<hy that day. So the question is - 1. how much "slop" is acceptable on a PS pulley? and 2. should i be worried about the pulley seizing on me and trashing my belt, & possibly leaving me stranded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Hmm, well, there shouldn't be any play in it at all (Just like a waterpump) If your gonna take it to Madison, I would unbolt the P/S pulley and do with out it till you get back. Fluid smell normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 23, 2010 Author Share Posted December 23, 2010 yeah, fluid smells, and looks normal and is at proper level. i went around town looking for a shorter belt to "bypass" the power steering, just in case...not happening, not available, not even on special order. would need a 5 rib flat belt at about 26.25 inches long to do it - these belts come in 25" as the shortest, then jump to 27+" for the next shortest - same thing with a 4 rib and even a 3 rib!! (which pose thier own set of problems) And this is not to mention driving a PS equipped vehicle with the PS non-operational is WAY worse than driving a manual steering vehicle - I know, have had PS go out before - requires quite a bit of muscle to move one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 It will kill your belt. The PS is on its way out, dont count on it for too much longer. i have one from a 1992 legacy if you will need one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Thats lame with the belt lengths, well just cut yours down and duct tape it like Red Green fashion (Yes I am joking) I do wonder why your pump is showing signs of failure? Mine has 211,000 and is solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 23, 2010 Author Share Posted December 23, 2010 Thanks Miles - we have three parts cars here, just looking for the confirmation of my gut feeling i guess...time to suit up and go pull a pump off one of the parts cars i guess. shouldnt take all that much to swap out, should it? pull the belt, pop off the lines, unbolt the pump, right? ...i know it is gonna be a bit messy, but that i can live with that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 23, 2010 Author Share Posted December 23, 2010 Thats lame with the belt lengths, well just cut yours down and duct tape it like Red Green fashion (Yes I am joking) I do wonder why your pump is showing signs of failure? Mine has 211,000 and is solid. Marc's car has over 260K and his is fine too - so i dont know...perhaps my car was more abused in it's previous life??? (and it was pretty abused, being forced to run around on blown air struts and who knows what else...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Marc's car has over 260K and his is fine too - so i dont know...perhaps my car was more abused in it's previous life??? (and it was pretty abused, being forced to run around on blown air struts and who knows what else...) could have been over tightened at some point, maybe. one of the mounting bolts may thread through to the internal part of the engine. i seem to remember one with thread lock on it. but that may have been for the AC or a ''just in case'' sort of thing. i can't remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 23, 2010 Author Share Posted December 23, 2010 could have been over tightened at some point, maybe. one of the mounting bolts may thread through to the internal part of the engine. i seem to remember one with thread lock on it. but that may have been for the AC or a ''just in case'' sort of thing. i can't remember. oh no - dont tell me that! well, i guess i will find out when i pull the parts car one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 maybe the failure was due to the wrong type of fluid, as these require ATF dextron. Also i second tom, maybe the belt has been too tight causing a bearing failure. you can remove the pump from the bracket by inserting your tool into the holes on the pulley, remove the 3 bolts, and out she comes. Undo the PS lines at the pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 24, 2010 Author Share Posted December 24, 2010 Well, all done!! whole pump including the bracket was already pulled on the one parts car, was lying on the battery platform - just had to dig it out of the snow! lol Had to go get tires on Marc's car (he took mine to work this morning), then into town to get the pump swapped. just for peace of mind, i did run some fluid thru the "new" pump before install (and yes, i know they take Dexron ATF) and turned it by hand until it started coming out the pressure side & all seemed to be in order. petty easy swap all in all, just a little messy unhooking the lines... also appears i will be investing in a cheap turkey baster for the garage - old fluid was getting a bit dark... anyway, so far so good - all is right in my Subaru world again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 For future reference there is a belt that can be used to run just the alt - many people that have EJ swapped their EA vehicle. I would look it up in the EJ swap threads but I'm on my android phone. GD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 24, 2010 Author Share Posted December 24, 2010 Thank you GD!! went and did a little searching and viola!! there it was, the belt size needed to bypass the PS pump - just for future reference folks, it is a 27.5" belt! see this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104879&highlight=power+steering+belt from the pic that was posted, it looked like the alt was adjusted nearly all the way up, so one could possibly get by with a 27" or 27.25" the old string (wire) around the pulleys method measured out about 26"... just for the record, i dont actually recommend bypassing the power steering, but in an emergency situation (ie: seized pump), it can be done to get to safety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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