Power Steering Pully Installation

[Frank D.]

Replacing my power steering pump and reservoir. Concerning sliding the p/s pulley on the shaft of the new pump, the Corvette Shop Manual (pg-9-20) says, "Do not hammer pulley." Without some kind of downward force, the pulley will not go down the shaft. Any suggestions on how this has been done successfully in the past?

I have the alignment "spline" fitted correctly into the groove on the inside of the pulley, and I have greased the shaft as well.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Frank O'Donnell
Troy, VA

[Joe L.]

Re: Power Steering Pully Installation

Replacing my power steering pump and reservoir. Concerning sliding the p/s pulley on the shaft of the new pump, the Corvette Shop Manual (pg-9-20) says, "Do not hammer pulley." Without some kind of downward force, the pulley will not go down the shaft. Any suggestions on how this has been done successfully in the past?

I have the alignment "spline" fitted correctly into the groove on the inside of the pulley, and I have greased the shaft as well.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Frank O'Donnell
Troy, VA

Frank------


Generally, the pulley can be installed far enough on the shaft that the nut can be threaded on and used to pull the pulley into final position as it is turned down and torqued. Check the following:

1) Make sure that the pulley is installed in the correct direction. The shaft and the pulley's shaft orifice have a slight taper;

2) Check to be sure that the woodruff key is fully seated in the slot on the shaft. You can tap it down with a hammer;

3) Check to be sure there are no burrs on the shaft, the woodruff key or the pulley orifice. Even the slightest burr will cause a problem in the seating of the pulley;

4) If all the above checks out OK, then you can install the pulley and LIGHTLY tap it down with a rubber mallet. It should go on far enough to allow starting of the nut.

[Frank D.]

Re: Power Steering Pully Installation

Joe:
Thanks for the detailed reply. In reading over each point of your information, the "obvious" came into my head. I took out the calipers and measured the shaft on the new pump versus the old one. The shaft on the new pump from Lonestar Co./Zip Corvette was .002" larger in diameter than the shaft on the old pump. Also, the woodruff key was slightly wider as well.

I ground out the center opening of the pulley and filed out the slot for the key in the pulley as well, and it slid right on.

Thanks again for your quick reply. Sometimes the information another member supplies kick-starts the brain of a man working on his own by himself in the garage late at night!

Frank O'Donnell
Troy, VA

[Joe L.]

Re: Power Steering Pully Installation

Joe:
Thanks for the detailed reply. In reading over each point of your information, the "obvious" came into my head. I took out the calipers and measured the shaft on the new pump versus the old one. The shaft on the new pump from Lonestar Co./Zip Corvette was .002" larger in diameter than the shaft on the old pump. Also, the woodruff key was slightly wider as well.

I ground out the center opening of the pulley and filed out the slot for the key in the pulley as well, and it slid right on.

Thanks again for your quick reply. Sometimes the information another member supplies kick-starts the brain of a man working on his own by himself in the garage late at night!

Frank O'Donnell
Troy, VA

Frank------


It must be that the supplier of the pump is using some sort of "reproduction" shaft when they find it necessary to replace the shaft in a pump they rebuild. The GM shaft was discontinued quite a few years ago. In any event, the shaft they are using must not meet the original GM specifications for the part. That's going to cause a problem just like yours for everyone that gets a pump with this replacement shaft.