Replaced the wifey's mustangs power steering pump, for the second time, yesterday. Rented a power steering pulley puller/installer kit from my local Autozone. Went fairly smoothly. Bled the system and don't see any air bubbles in the reservoir. However, there is a loud werrrring noise (like an electric motor spinning) coming from the pump between 1.5k and 2.5k RPM's. Went back to AutoZone and noticed that they had a pulley installer tool specific to fords. It looks similar to the OEM (manufacturer) kit I picked up at AutoZone, with one difference. The OEM tool is flat and will only press the pulley on till the pump shaft is flush with the pulley. The Ford specific tool has a little recess in it that would allow the pulley to be pressed in a little bit more (as shown in the pic in the link above), so the pump shaft sticks out from the pulley a little bit.

So could this be a 'simple' pulley alignment problem? I REALLY don't want to put down $25 for a tool that I will use only once. Or am I just doing it all wrong?

Note: as stated earlier this is the second time I've replaced the power steering pump in a month. The first replacement pump had the same issue I'm describing above, which is why I'm suspecting its an install issue and not a problem with the pump.

Thanks for any suggestions/help...

 

anyone?

 

The whirring could be the belt being out of alignment with the rest of the pullies (simple pulley alignment problem). Won't know until you get the right tool and have the pulley pushed on all the way like it's supposed to.

 

I pulled the trigger and bought the Ford specific installer tool. Didn't move the pulley a millimeter and I put a lot of force on it with a barker bar & foot long opened ended wrench. I'm also a former power lifter. The end of the pump shaft is still flush with the pulley. If I look at the back side of the pulley there is still about 1/8" of the pump shaft exposed. Looking at the teeth on the pulley compared to the teeth on the alternator and they appear to be aligned. But its hard to tell.

Do you mind taking a look at your power steering pump pulley and seeing if the end of the pump shaft is flush with the pulley, or does it stick out a bit? Thanks a lot...

 

If no one else does, I can check mine but it won't be till tomorrow.

 

On my 95 the shaft sticks out slightly further than the front of the pulley. Maybe 1/8 inch at most...

 

Cool... thanks a lot...