3.0 belt tightening
 

Ok here's the deal. On my 3.0 the PS belt squeels and slips pretty bad. it squeels on startup and then quiets down once I get going. But sometimes when turning the wheel stopped it slips and I lose power steering.

I've tried to tighten this belt but I'm not exactly sure how to go about it. I've done alot of other stuff on my truck but never messed with the belts. Can somebody walk me through this? I can tell the belt is pretty loose. I know where the adjusting bolt loosens at but the bolt I think is the pivot I cannot get loose. Also how should I physicaly tighten the belt? The last time I saw a belt being tightened was like 8 years ago and it was on a chevy 350 w/ alot of room to work on, my dad used a screwdriver as a pry bar to tension the belt I think.

I also have a pretty good leak in the power steering somewhere near the box. It has been there for over a year though. But could this be caused by something a little more serious? The squeeling/slipping belt and the leak I mean, like my pump is going bad or something??


Sorry for my long post :spank:

It's backwards of what you would think - you push the power steering pulley IN (towards the block, away from the fender) to tighten the belt.

really??

either way I still cant get the freaking thing loose!! Which bolt exactly is the pivot??

You may want to take the belt off and spin the pulley by hand to see how hard it is to turn. The bearing in the pump may be bad. See how much flex you get out of the belt in the middle between it and the main pulley. I forget the factory specs but you shouldnt have more than like 1/4" movement I think. To tighten that belt I think you have to use a prybar of somesort to pull on the PS pump and then tighten the bolt.

Use 1 full bottle of "Stop Leak" it should solve the leak. No pry bar on PS pump. There is a long bolt that extends thru a sleeve that tightens the belt. There is a small bolt that goes thru the back of th bracket that locks the position of the pump once it's adjusted. First loosen the lock bolt then adjust with the long bolt to tighten... AND don't over tighten. It's easy to put too much torque on the adjuster and over tighten the belt which will lead to the bearings failing prematurely in the PS pump. REF the Stop Leak... drain some/most of the PS fluid out (of resevior) with a syringe to make room for the Stop Leak. Stuff really works by softning the seals. Also works good in new pumps to prevent this from happening in the first place!! Good luck!