Rittmeister
08-01-2008, 04:56 PM
Am having some troubles. This is on an S13 coupe with SR swap. Currently running an Autozone rebuilt KA powersteering pump with SR pulley and belt.
Last year about this time the car threw the belt - I replaced it and it ran fine since, until today. I was making an 8-hour drive home from a short vacation, and about two hours from home on a cloverleaf onramp the steering effort became quite high. I figured it had thrown the belt again and drove on home (there were no other issues).
After popping the hood, I found that the nut and lock washer that hold the pulley on the pump were nowhere to be found; the pulley was still on the shaft (held by the tension of the belt I suppose) but the splines of the shaft are a bit eaten up, and the splines in the center of the pulley are GONE. In fact, the hole is so perfectly round that I had to think for a minute to remember whether it had splines in the first place; I looked up a few aftermarket pulley sets to confirm that yes, it had splines, which means that the belt spinning the pulley on the shaft must have worn them completely away.
So, my question is: what might have caused this issue? The car was fine for over a year, and fine on the first leg of my trip. I am pretty sure I will need a new pump and pulley (might get aftermarket), but what can I do to ensure this doesn't happen again?
Thanks!
Last year about this time the car threw the belt - I replaced it and it ran fine since, until today. I was making an 8-hour drive home from a short vacation, and about two hours from home on a cloverleaf onramp the steering effort became quite high. I figured it had thrown the belt again and drove on home (there were no other issues).
After popping the hood, I found that the nut and lock washer that hold the pulley on the pump were nowhere to be found; the pulley was still on the shaft (held by the tension of the belt I suppose) but the splines of the shaft are a bit eaten up, and the splines in the center of the pulley are GONE. In fact, the hole is so perfectly round that I had to think for a minute to remember whether it had splines in the first place; I looked up a few aftermarket pulley sets to confirm that yes, it had splines, which means that the belt spinning the pulley on the shaft must have worn them completely away.
So, my question is: what might have caused this issue? The car was fine for over a year, and fine on the first leg of my trip. I am pretty sure I will need a new pump and pulley (might get aftermarket), but what can I do to ensure this doesn't happen again?
Thanks!