Re: 89 5.0 Mercruiser pulley locked up - need part ID
Here are my results of trying to replace the power steering pump myself......
I'm taking it to a mechanic.
Friday morning I began working on it at 7:00 a.m. It was not too difficult to remove all the necessary bolts and hoses. It was difficult to remove the pump from the mounting bracket(s). It took me as long get the pump out as it did to remove all nuts & bolts and hoses. I took it to Advance Auto, found a replacement, $50. A couple of problems. It did not come with a pulley, so I had to buy a pulley puller/installer ($30) to remove my old one and put on the new pump (they did not have one to rent). It did not come with studs for mounting the pump to the brackets. I easily removed the pulley from my old pump, but when I put it back on I was never sure if I had it on all the way. I was expecting it to bottom out, but it never would no matter how much I strained to push it on farther. I began to remove the studs from the old pump. The nut on the studs were larger than 11/16" but smaller the 3/4". I bought tools, metric deep weld sockets that I did not have and an 18mm wrench. The nut was too small for a 17mm and too large for an 18mm. It made no sense whatsoever. I did manage to eventually remove one of the studs with an 18mm. I took the stud to a store to see if I could get a new set. None at Napa, none at Advance, none at another auto parts store. But, the last place did remove the second stud from my old pump by forcing an 11/16" socket. The studs seemed to be the right diameter for my new pump, but something wasn't right. They seemed to be going into the new pump cross-threaded, but they weren't cross threaded. I tried the other side of my stud (one side was coarse thread and the other was fine thread). Neither would truly start by hand. Well, I forced them anyway and my first one seemed ok. I managed to get it flush with the pump. My second one was almost flush when it seemed to strip, and was suddenly loose. Not good for mountaing a pump. So essentially I ruined the pump since I can't get studs in it, I can't tap it since I can't use larger studs to replace it.
I'm giving up. Taking it to a mechanic where he says he can find a better GM pump, hopefully it comes with a pulley and studs. I spent 7 hours removing the pump, driving and getting parts, work on pump, driving to get tools, work on pump, driving to find studs, work on pump. Ruined pump. All I accomplished was I removed the pump, I have some new tools, and wasted a lot of money.
At least it will still be cheaper than paying $500 for a mercruiser pump.
