Power steering pulley alignment 77 Cordoba 360

[eric2632]

Does anyone recognize what the problem might be here? My power steering pump pulley sits too far rearward by about half a belt width. So it’s squeaking and wearing the belt out. It was this way when I bought the car. Nothing is modified that I know of. The air pump pulleys seem to align perfectly but that belt is missing presumably because the air pump is seized up. Perhaps is the wrong pump or pulley but I don’t know how to tell without buying and changing parts to see what happens. Thank you.

 

[1STMP]

An easy fix would be to shim the bracket forward with some large
O.D. flat washers. Could be the PS
bracket is bent from years of over-
zealous belt tightening.

 

[eric2632]

An easy fix would be to shim the bracket forward with some large
O.D. flat washers. Could be the PS
bracket is bent from years of over-
zealous belt tightening.

Hey thanks for the reply, washers is what I ended up doing and seems to be fine. It just bothered me that something didn’t seem right but who knows maybe it came from the factory misaligned.

 

[ckessel]

I had that issue too on my Challenger plus the alternator. When I had the engine out, so I could strip and paint the bay, I took the opportunity to get those lined up. Some washers, some hole filing, some tweaks to various brackets etc. Everyone lined up great then.

 

[eric2632]

I had that issue too on my Challenger plus the alternator. When I had the engine out, so I could strip and paint the bay, I took the opportunity to get those lined up. Some washers, some hole filing, some tweaks to various brackets etc. Everyone lined up great then.

I guess the misalignment might be common and you just shim as needed. Oddly enough getting the alignment done didn’t solve my annoying belt squeak. I think it’s actually the fan pulley. It’s designed to run with 2 belts one to the PS and one to the air pump. My air pump is locked up so someone got rid of that belt long ago. It’s a massive 7 blade fan and when its hot and the clutch is fully engaged it moves air like a jet engine so probably needs 2 belts, especially since it’s got a wrap that’s only about 90 deg. So I took the air pump off and may actually try to get it rebuilt just so I have all the belts in place.

 

[ckessel]

Along with the misalignment of accessories, pulleys and belts play into the squeal issues. The pulleys get glazed in the grooves from all the revolutions with belts in them over time. Deglaze them by abrasive methods. Blast them[ good time to paint afterwards] or emery cloth the grooves. Belts can be quite the challenge too as some brands/types squeal more than others. The old school units that are solid, not grooved/toothed worked out better for me. Also the solid ones that had cording in the top wide portion and the lower narrow portion are quieter than the ones with cording at the top only. On my Challenger I learned a tip from a repair shop next to the NAPA store I worked at in the early 90's. NAPA had changed their premium belts to the toothed/grooved ones[ made by Gates] and their lesser line was the solid units with cording top/bottom. The "premium" ones squealed and sent powdered rubber around the engine bay. The "lesser" solid ones did not. Go figure! So we always sold them the lesser ones and thats what I put on my car at the time. Dayco brand was ok but their belts were not 3/8", they ran theirs in 32nds like 13/32" etc. Dayco units seemed to be squeak prone too since they didn't fully sit in the groove. Another thing is that some belt brands/types stretch more and must be tensioned periodically. Have fun!