It Happened Again, Power Steering Wobble :/

Scott 440 TNT

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2020
Messages
136
Reaction score
107
Location
Houston, TX
So during one of the early test starts of the engine in my 68 300 440 the Power steering pump started jumping all over and the belt was about to fly off until I shut it down. I was told that the rubber snubber needed to be replaced, and I did that because there wasn't one.
So I bolted it all back up and was doing another start and I'll be a Son of a B it started jumping again :( I followed the manual procedure for tightening with light tension. The pivot bolt at the bottom has some concentric looking grooves cut into it on both ends where it meets the bracket, should those be there, they looked factory I think. I should have taken a pic of it. The whole pump can wobble around at that pivot, doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe That bolt needs to be replaced, let me know what you think.
Thanks
 
First thing is to understand why the mounting system Chrysler used works as it does. Seems like there's a YouTube video from about 1960 and/or a Chrysler MasterTech video on it?

The rubber bushings go away as people felt the belt was too loose, and sought to make the belt "tight", which degraded the rubber items quicker. The pump on our '66 Newport sits a bit sideways, but the belt still stays on and the pump still leans into the belt when the pump is under load, which is what it was designed to do. Perhaps there's some polyurethane suspension bushings that can be cut-down to replace the old rubber items?

Decades ago, when things started to not sit straight, the option was to weld the bracket so it was straight, with the belt adjustment then being what people thought it should be. Possibly a later model bracket set can be used, that fits the power steering pump you have? Which pump do you have?

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
First thing is to understand why the mounting system Chrysler used works as it does. Seems like there's a YouTube video from about 1960 and/or a Chrysler MasterTech video on it?

The rubber bushings go away as people felt the belt was too loose, and sought to make the belt "tight", which degraded the rubber items quicker. The pump on our '66 Newport sits a bit sideways, but the belt still stays on and the pump still leans into the belt when the pump is under load, which is what it was designed to do. Perhaps there's some polyurethane suspension bushings that can be cut-down to replace the old rubber items?

Decades ago, when things started to not sit straight, the option was to weld the bracket so it was straight, with the belt adjustment then being what people thought it should be. Possibly a later model bracket set can be used, that fits the power steering pump you have? Which pump do you have?

Enjoy!
CBODY67
I'm not sure what pump I have. I've run the engine and the pump turns smoothly with no vibration, but other times it will randomly start a violent shaking back and forth. Roughly 1/2" of movement front to back, if there are supposed to be some bushings on the bottom bolt I have none which would explain the excessive play. Is the bolt supposed to have grooves cut in it, seems the grooves allow all the play.
 
What do the pivot and mounting bolt holes on the brackets look like? Still pretty round or not? Do the grooves in the bolt(s) coordinate with the braeket bolt holes?

Just curious,
CBODY67
 
What do the pivot and mounting bolt holes on the brackets look like? Still pretty round or not? Do the grooves in the bolt(s) coordinate with the braeket bolt holes?

Just curious,
CBODY67
I will pull it off again and take pics of everything this week.
 
I ended getting rid of the rubber bushing and welding the bracket. Have not had a problem with it.
 
These are the pics of the bottom pivot bolt with grooves in it, also have pics of ps brackets holes.
The bracket holes have some wear for sure, but the bolt is adding the most play.
What kind of pump is this also.
Thanks

BD8852DE-DE81-4E43-8E5B-962723B5FB08.jpeg


B4F2E881-05C0-44A4-814C-E9D5C45AF3DE.jpeg


951BC212-1914-42C1-8111-D443EFA7250F.jpeg


8D1F72B6-1B7D-4CFF-9D38-862D2F565218.jpeg


E079A620-59D4-49A5-9F1E-F2B35C363AE0.jpeg


D05DF3E7-3991-4098-A930-04A54C7A9004.jpeg


E2BBCED3-122E-493C-92AE-D31010A2B459.jpeg
 
Definitely needs some new bolts! Better to have the bolts wear than the bracket holes.
 
I feel like a broken record see my original reply to you post #4 I went thru the EXACT same things you are going thru. Swap it. If you are worried about "originality" keep the old parts in in a box under your bench labelled "Not everything Chrysler engineers did was good"
 
I feel like a broken record see my original reply to you post #4 I went thru the EXACT same things you are going thru. Swap it. If you are worried about "originality" keep the old parts in in a box under your bench labelled "Not everything Chrysler engineers did was good"

To me, it's more like "Not everything Chrysler engineers did was fully understood by mechanics who thought they knew more than the engineers did".

When that power steering mount was in production, it was quite common to hear power steering belts squalling as the owners of a Cadillac, Buick, or Oldsmobile maneuvered their cars into parking spots at the curb of fancier stores in shopping centers, back then. As their power steering belts were probably adjusted tight enough you could play them like a guitar string.

When a flex-mount Chrysler power steering belt was tried to adjust that way, it didn't work and then proceeded to wear out the mounting mechanism, over time. But when the belt was adjusted correctly, it appeared too loose to many, so they got out the pry bar and wrenches to "fix it".

That flex-mount power steering bracketry was one of those idosyncracies of Chryslers which Ford and GM people didn't know about or understrand, it seems. Going to the solid mount was probably less expensive to use and didn't result in any !@#$!#$% from irate mechanics. Probably similar to the engineering reason for the lh and rh wheel studs! Over-engineered.

Just some observations,
CBODY67
 
Back
Top