Gen 2: PS Pulley & Bracket Renewal

[My98RT10]

Hi,

I just finished the installation of the aluminum power steering pulley and bracket and thought I would share some pics here. I purchased the parts more than a year ago from IPSCO and finally grew a pair to tackle this by myself. I had read a lot about this exercise in the forums so I knew, that the trickiest part will be to get the OEM pulley off the pump shaft.

But overall, I would conclude that this is a straight forward job, provided you have the right puller. I first tried to pull it off with a standard 2-arm puller but I cannot not recommend that! I ended up breaking a small part off the OEM pulley hub.



It goes without saying, that the pulley remained, pretty unimpressed by my efforts, on the pump shaft. It was not willing to move anywhere.

So I purchased another type of puller, which is made particularly for PS pulleys. This one works differently and "embraces" the pulley hub 360°.



With this puller the OEM pulley could not refuse to get out of my way any longer



Pump & OEM bracket removed:



Comparison OEM and IPSCO bracket:



New pully and hub:



New bracket installed:



New pulley hub installed:



Pump with new pulley and bracket installed:



I have installed a new belt, too, and everything works fine again. The pulley is lined up perfectly and also no leaks after attaching the hoses again.

But since there is no free lunch, you should think about it twice before doing the same thing!! I know that many of you are on the hunt for more HP, even if it's just one or two.

The new pulley is significantly heavier than that shitty piece of plastic. So, be prepared to lose a few HP by installing the shiny one ;-)

LMAO!

[LifeIsGood]

Damn that pulley is purty! Some day I'm gonna do all my pulleys in billet aluminum...will help spiffy up the engine compartment.

[My98RT10]

Next one I'll do is the idle pulley;-)

[C.J]

Looks like the p/s pulley remover from Harbor Freight. I had to file mine down to get it to fit correctly over the pulley lip, but its held up for 4 p/s jobs so far. Not bad for a $15 (or whatever it was...can't remember now) it cost.

Good pics too, thanks for posting!

[My98RT10]

I bought the puller from Ebay UK. In the ad it says NEILSON to be the manufacturer. But I agree, it looks the same as the one sold by Harbour Freight (manufacturer Pittsburgh Automotive). But for me there was no need to file anything down. I could use it out of the box.

C.J.: I hope, that the 4 p/s jobs were done on 4 different cars LOL

[C.J]

LOL! Yes, 4 different Vipers.

[Sybil TF]

Nice post. First thing I had done. You can borrow a power steering pulley puller from O'Rielly's Auto Parts If you don't want to spend the money.

[RTTTTed]

My 2001 power steering bracket broke as I was backing out of my garage. I ordered bracket and steel pulley (ugly) and it took a couple weeks to get here. I removed the pump and changed out the bracket for the Billet one, easy. I couldn't find a pulley puller anywhere in any town within 200 miles so I threw the steel pulley into the spare tire compartment in the back and forgot about it, for a time. Coming home from a Car show in Kamloops (7 hour drive each way) and I felt the engine smooth out and heard pieces hitting the ground and knew that the plastic pulley had failed. Driving past 2 houses (only houses within 50 miles except Native rexerve land) so I grabbed the brake and turned into the second driveway before the missing fan belt caused an overheating problem. The owner there said that the first house was John and he was a mechanic and could probably help me with tools.

I drove back to the previous driveway and parked by the neighbor's workshop. Jon emerged from the shop and when I told him my problem he said that was pretty common and he did have the puller that I had been unable to rent borrow or steal from the city. Imagine my surprise breaking down right as I went past perhaps the ONLY pulley puller that would work!!! Thanks God. I had the tools in my trunk (requires pump removal to clear the upper crossmember) and used his puller to remove the broken hub and reinstal the new "press on" metal Jeep pulley in his yard. Definitely a good idea to replace these faulty parts BEFORE they break and cause you problems, perhaps serious problems if you're on a long trip.

[C.J]

Amazing story about your pulley failure...

Your pulley could have failed anywhere, but it failed by those houses.
With a mechanic named John.
Who was home.
And he had the exact tool you needed that nobody else had.
And you had the part with you.
Coincidence?

Looks like God wanted you to meet this guy.

[jjfne]

what did you have to do to the fluid lines once you hooked back up? Did you have to bleed out the air in the system.. Im looking to replace the pulley, but unsure about taking off the fluid line..Thanks

[C.J]

You'll need to replace the o-ring on the high pressure hose where it goes into the pump body. I primed mine by turning the pulley by hand. The billet pulley spins easily, turn it clockwise (relative to looking at the pump from the front), and after a few minutes, new fluid will be flowing. Start the car and let run while you turn the wheel side to side. Stop engine and recheck fluid level.

[slitherv10]

You'll need to replace the o-ring on the high pressure hose where it goes into the pump body. I primed mine by turning the pulley by hand. The billet pulley spins easily, turn it clockwise (relative to looking at the pump from the front), and after a few minutes, new fluid will be flowing. Start the car and let run while you turn the wheel side to side. Stop engine and recheck fluid level.

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Where do you get those O-rings from and what size are they? After installing the new pulley and bracket, you fill the power steering fluid back up and then turn the pulley or do you just put it all together and then just turn the pulley without filling fluid in? Sorry, although I am good with working with tools, not really mechanically inclined and trying to learn to fix my own car for a change.

[C.J]

No worries. Fill with correct fluid for your year Viper then turn pulley. Honestly, I'm not sure turning the pulley is really necessary...

Auto parts stores will usually have an assortment of O-rings. I don't remember the size, but you can take your old o-ring in and compare. Make sure they can withstand high temps. Viton O-rings can do this, and some black ones can as well.

[slitherv10]

No worries. Fill with correct fluid for your year Viper then turn pulley. Honestly, I'm not sure turning the pulley is really necessary...

Auto parts stores will usually have an assortment of O-rings. I don't remember the size, but you can take your old o-ring in and compare. Make sure they can withstand high temps. Viton O-rings can do this, and some black ones can as well.

Thanks for the info. My 96 GTS has 38K miles on it and I think it may be time to replace it before disaster hits.

[My98RT10]

I have not replaced the O-ring and I don't remember having turned the pulley either... everything works like charm since then

[Bugman Jeff]

Priming is helpful but not absolutely necessary. The biggest thing is to make sure there's enough fluid in the reservoir that it doesn't get sucked dry when you start the engine.

[Vipernoob]

I was able to change my power steering pump pulley and mounting bracket without disconnecting the lines. I just unbolted the pump, moved it up and towards the wheel a little and tilted it some (but not so much that it stressed the lines) so I could get the pulley puller on it, pulled the pulley off, swapped the mounting brackets, put the new pulley holder on, mounted the pump, and put the pulley on.

[C.J]

I was able to change my power steering pump pulley and mounting bracket without disconnecting the lines. I just unbolted the pump, moved it up and towards the wheel a little and tilted it some (but not so much that it stressed the lines) so I could get the pulley puller on it, pulled the pulley off, swapped the mounting brackets, put the new pulley holder on, mounted the pump, and put the pulley on.

That's impressive! I'm curious as to what type of puller you used.

[Vipernoob]

That's impressive! I'm curious as to what type of puller you used.

Blue Point. Similar to the other ones suggested in this thread. This is a picture of the kit:

[PittsburghRT]

Awesome! I need to do this over the winter.

[Vipernoob]

It makes for good peace of mind, that's for sure. I plan on doing some track days and the last thing I need is a pulley failure, especially since it is a documented problem for high hp and tracked vehicles (not that I'm pushing a lot of hp or hit the track every weekend). I don't know if its as easy to do with a supercharger, but it is a job that can be done fairly easily without one.

[Bugman Jeff]

I was able to change my power steering pump pulley and mounting bracket without disconnecting the lines...

That's impressive! I'm curious as to what type of puller you used.

Had my pulley not been so stuck that it actually broke the hub, I'd have been able to do it without removing the lines too. With the pump unbolted, there is enough slack in the lines to move the pump enough to get the puller on the pulley.

[C.J]

Blue Point. Similar to the other ones suggested in this thread. This is a picture of the kit:

Thanks. Looks very similar to the kit that I got from HF.

[Tom, F&L GoR]

Some added comments:

GM makes a cold climate power steering fluid that is synthetic, lower viscosity and extra anti-wear additive. It should reduce steering effort a little and survive high temperature excursions better.

Consider a smaller crank pulley to slow all the driven pulleys. On my '94 the previous owner had installed a 5-groove pulley from a 5.7L, but I see there are now 6-groove versions. In the 100K+ miles I drove the car I never had a steering, charging, cooling or AC issue. There is arguably a small power gain to spin everything 25% slower, but I think the practical benefit is to reduce the churning and foaming in the power steering pump. I did lots of AX and never had the cap blow off or overheat the fluid like many did.

[C.J]

Tom, interesting thought about the GM cold climate p/s fluid. Was this the stuff that GM came up with to cure the "morning sickness" of the early GM p/s racks?

Have you used this p/s fluid in your Vipers? Thanks.