99' Power Steering Pump Replacement
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99' Power Steering Pump Replacement
I recently bought a 1999 Dakota Sport 3.9L V6, Automatic, 4x4 79k miles. Seems like I am having a lot of problems. Replaced drivers side wheel bearing, exhaust O2 sensors (engine light was on and that is what they said it was..it wasnt!), tranny pan, gasket & filter, complete exhaust cat. converter and back. (Cat was the source of the engine light) Now the power steering pump is squealing and the serpentine belt looks cracked and brittle. Bought the power steering pump today and new serpentine belt. This seems like the hardest job so far. Cant get the pulley bolt out, it keeps hitting the radiator shroud. Do I have to take the shroud off and pull the radiator also? Is there something that I am missing? I am not very mechanically inclined but there is nobody else around for the next couple of days to help me so I a trying to do it myself. What is the trick of getting this off with the puller?
Record Breaker
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,970
Likes: 20
From: Clermont, Florida
Welocme to the forum....
There is no need to remove the shroud or radiator. It is much easier to to the ps pump if you remove the battery first, it will give you a lot more room to work. Remove the belt and then remove the pump with the pulley still attached to it. Then use the puller to remove the old pulley and press it into place on the new pump. It is a whole lot easier to do with the pump removed. When I did mine I just set the pump on my garage floor and braced it against the leg of my workbench, this made it easier to operate the puller. A set of stubby metric wrenches helps out too, at least in my case they did. It was easier for me to access the bolts for the hoses at the pump from underneath my truck and a stubby wrench gave a lot better clearance. You can get a stubby wrench set cheap at Harbor Freight or maybe Northern Tool. I believe the size I needed was 15mm, but it may have been 13mm.
Be sure to bleed and burp the ps fluid system, get all the air out or you will have problems with the ps not working right. Put the front end up on jack stands, leave the cap off the pump, turn on the ignition but so not start the truck and slowly turn the wheel back and forth. Try to not hold the wheel locked left or right, but make nearly the entire turn left and right about 20 times. On mine I had to bleed it like that a couple of times with the engine off, then bleed it again with the engine running. With the engine running look down the filler neck of the ps pump, if you keep seeing little air bubbles in the fluid you should keep bleeding until they all disappear.
Jimmy
There is no need to remove the shroud or radiator. It is much easier to to the ps pump if you remove the battery first, it will give you a lot more room to work. Remove the belt and then remove the pump with the pulley still attached to it. Then use the puller to remove the old pulley and press it into place on the new pump. It is a whole lot easier to do with the pump removed. When I did mine I just set the pump on my garage floor and braced it against the leg of my workbench, this made it easier to operate the puller. A set of stubby metric wrenches helps out too, at least in my case they did. It was easier for me to access the bolts for the hoses at the pump from underneath my truck and a stubby wrench gave a lot better clearance. You can get a stubby wrench set cheap at Harbor Freight or maybe Northern Tool. I believe the size I needed was 15mm, but it may have been 13mm.
Be sure to bleed and burp the ps fluid system, get all the air out or you will have problems with the ps not working right. Put the front end up on jack stands, leave the cap off the pump, turn on the ignition but so not start the truck and slowly turn the wheel back and forth. Try to not hold the wheel locked left or right, but make nearly the entire turn left and right about 20 times. On mine I had to bleed it like that a couple of times with the engine off, then bleed it again with the engine running. With the engine running look down the filler neck of the ps pump, if you keep seeing little air bubbles in the fluid you should keep bleeding until they all disappear.
Jimmy
