Hello all...

well my excitement at finding the fault causing the grating, whinning noise has now completely gone...

this morning the power steering belt "fell off" while I was moving the car around a barn. I removed the baffle plate under the engine thinking I could simply put it back on and discovered that the the PSP pulley has adrift!!!!!! The splined shaft is damaged and I'd guess pretty useless now, and it obviously won't go back in...so...a new pump is called for...

as ever I'm in a mad rush, need the van daily (1.9 D cube on a P plate), and can't wait until Monday...so I locate a skoda breaker in suffolk and he's got one I can pick up tomorrow... so my question...

having no Haynes as yet I'm not sure of the removal routine...

can I remove the pump from under the engine easily enough? Are there any nasties I need to be aware of? Any tips, clues, magic moves etc?

any replies gratefully accepted as always...

many thanks

cobweb

you dont need power steering!!! pas is for wimps:rofl:

no harm ment

yes, it's a striaightforward job. can be easily done from underneath, the only thing to be carefull of is not over-tightening the hydraulic fluid unions.... and obviously you will need to refill and bleed the system when you are finished

No harm done, Pinkskud.

Actually, apart from the familly car, which SWMBO drives mostly, I've NEVER had PAS in one of my own...my other is a 25yr old Series Landy. But I doubt that running the cube with a nackered PAS pump will do much good.

I managed to get it off this morning...despite a VERY, VERY, tight union between the metal pipe and the pump, but then found I can't collect the replacement pump until tomorrow morning...

so all being well putting the new one back on will be a breeze.

Teflon, where do I bleed from? As I said earlier, I don't have a Haynes yet.

Thanks for the answers already.

cobweb

with the front wheels off the floor, take the cap off the fluid resovoir, and turn the steering from lock-to-lock with the engine off! untill the fluid level doesn't drop any more.

then start the engine and do it again from lock-to-lock till the gurling noises stop(about 5 times normally)...... if the fluid level drops then top it up

Cheers, Teflon. You're a diamond.

I can sense a perfectly running cube on the way!

Off to collect the pump now...and maybe a few other bits and bobs to make it look a little better...oh, and some locks that have a matching key!

many, many thanks

Cobweb

where do I bleed from?

cobweb

usualy the back of the hand, and sometimes the forehead!

Have you got the Lottery numbers as well, pinkskud? Because it was the back of my hand.

The pump wasn't a problem at all...once we'd realised that the the cube has the VW engine and the pump is slightly different to the one waiting for me...but as I'd never looked at how the belt went around the pulleys and wheels, putting it back was a bind.

Once I'd figured the way it went on I spent over a hour trying to figure out how to make some slack!! Then I remembered something about the belt be self-tensioning from another post on here somewhere, and figured that one of the wheels must accomodate this. So I find out which one...left of the small top pulley...and try to pull it...god it was tough...

In the end, not being able to figure out what proper way is...which is probably straightforward and a two second job...I got a six foot long metal bar, welded a small piece on the end to fit inside the back of the small wheel and pulled like mad until my newly aquired assistant slipped the belt on.

"Slipped" is a possible exageration of the grunting and swearing that accompanied this process.

Anyway...belt on, cowls back, wheel on, fluid in, bleed as described, and Bob's your Auntie the cube lives!....

And what next?

Well...earlier on Monday morning the other half went off to work after a fortnight off...teacher...and somehow snapped the soddin' exhaust on the Marea estate in half!!!!!!!!!!!! And you don't want to know what the back section cost was. So...a section of stainless Golf exhaust (just the right OD), some D rings, sealer, gum and a hacksaw later and it's all done for nowt. For now!

I really am considering buying a horse and cart now. Only knowing my luck the horse will go lame and the wheel will fall off in a rut.

many thanks for all the help

cobweb

:rofl:

excellent.. glad it is fixed

i find the best way to put on the tight belt is by undoing the brackets that hold it to the engine so there is a little play, then slip it on