Power Steering Pump Killed My Alternator

***SMWS6TA*** · 03-17-2010, 07:44 PM

Funny how a 10 cent O ring can ruin your weekend and really piss you off.

2 weeks ago I got stuck at P-cola Navy base because my alternator gave me the

and

which led to a lot of

I got her home the next day. Switch out the battery for a new one. Fast forward to tonight. I finally got some time to raise her up and poke at her to figure out what happen. I sorta knew why. My power steering pump seem to have a leak from some where and I could find it. I turn the wheels from side to side. Nothing. SOB!

Now I dropped the alternator, I know it's toast. See below:

After dropping the alt I find this (FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU):

Next after finding out that gremlins have walk off with my 18mm wrench, which so happens to be the one I need the most in order to take off the high pressure hose with. I get a buddy to loan me his, Friends are great to have. I pull the hose off. Nothing seems wrong with it. Going to change it anyways, It's probably OEM and 11yrs at that and I have the new one so why not. It's off anyways.

Still can't locate the leak, SOB I'm going to have to take the pump off. I'll save the

for ya'll. I get it and the reserve off, that was fun, insert sarcasm. As I check the pump I find the O-rings.

I believe this is the cause of my leakage. Any opinions? Pump seems to be fine, no binding or any weird noises. As far as the mess I think I'll take some simple green and elbow grease and try to get it clean. Any other suggestions are welcome about this. Also I notice that this some how got broke , I think when I installed my headers. What is it and how much do they cost?:

**Cutlass** · 03-18-2010, 03:28 AM

coolant temp sensor.
brake clean can help you clean up that slimey mess also

**V8MUSCLE** · 03-18-2010, 03:31 AM

i got the temp sensor for about 13 bucks at napa. i broke mine putting the headers in, guiding them in by myself and i guess i hit it.

***SMWS6TA*** · 03-18-2010, 04:52 AM

Originally Posted by Cutlass

coolant temp sensor.
brake clean can help you clean up that slimey mess also

Originally Posted by V8MUSCLE

i got the temp sensor for about 13 bucks at napa. i broke mine putting the headers in, guiding them in by myself and i guess i hit it.

Thx,

And that slimy mess was from the leak not taking the pump or hoses off. The K member is worse. I plan on getting a couple of cans of brake cleaner today.

**Smittro** · 03-18-2010, 11:35 AM

That sucks man. I'd grab a new belt while you're @ it. Brake fuild can ruin them it's caustic stuff. I don't put much stock in remaned alternators either, just throwing that out there. I'd also replace the temp sending unit before you dig into cleaning her up. Coolant will be released when you pull the old one. I dropped an Alt. once, my first reaction was to try to slow it's desent with my foot. After taking a chunk out of my shin, that sucker still hit the floor and broke..

***SMWS6TA*** · 03-18-2010, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by Smittro

That sucks man. I'd grab a new belt while you're @ it. Brake fuild can ruin them it's caustic stuff. I don't put much stock in remaned alternators either, just throwing that out there. I'd also replace the temp sending unit before you dig into cleaning her up. Coolant will be released when you pull the old one. I dropped an Alt. once, my first reaction was to try to slow it's desent with my foot. After taking a chunk out of my shin, that sucker still hit the floor and broke..

thanks for the heads up about the coolant

***SMWS6TA*** · 03-18-2010, 07:08 PM

Any guesses what this may be too?

any takers?????

well it's the plug that goes into the alternator. As I was taking the old one off I found this in the alternator and the wire dangling. SOB FU!!!!!!!!!!!

for the last 2 hrs...

As you can see I got a wire that I'm going to solder it to the bracket then try to solder it to the other wire. This is a last resort if the auto parts store doesn't have a fix for this. Taken any suggestions.....

**Smittro** · 03-18-2010, 07:16 PM

You can fix this.. The small blue gromet (slides over the wire fat side first) is to seal and hold the wire into place and the smaller clamp on piece holds it all together. Then solider the wires back together and plug it in. Only problem you may have is figuring out which slot the wire came out of..

***SMWS6TA*** · 03-18-2010, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by Smittro

You can fix this.. The small blue gromet (slides over the wire fat side first) is to seal and hold the wire into place and the smaller clamp on piece holds it all together. Then solider the wires back together and plug it in. Only problem you may have is figuring out which slot the wire came out of..

not a problem, it is the only one that has the metal clip. I still need to clean up the bracket with some electronic cleaner. I was told not to use brake cleaner on stuff like this. The PS fluid soaked the hell out of the last alternator and this was full of fluid.

**Smittro** · 03-18-2010, 07:28 PM

just incase...

**jb3golf** · 04-25-2010, 11:45 PM

Thanks for sharing your story man. I just went through a similar issue with my vehicle. I also had to re-wire & re-splice my connector that goes into the alternator as shown above. Why GM put the PS pump right on top of the alternator I'll never know?

!

***SMWS6TA*** · 04-26-2010, 10:34 AM

No problem....I figure that if it happen to me it most likely would happen to someone else.

**jb3golf** · 04-26-2010, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by SMWS6TA

No problem....I figure that if it happen to me it most likely would happen to someone else.

Yep.....In fact without LS1.com there's NO WAY I could have gotten through most of my cars issues....this site is absolutely FOR US AND BY US!!!! Gotta love it. Have a good week.

**TerribleTed** · 04-26-2010, 02:17 PM

Dont feel bad,,,My PS had a leak too,,I thought all was well since it was a slow leak,,,then after the years it became a major leak,,,and wala,,,,that alternator lasted a few days more,,,lucky for me 50 bucks later a rebuild got me going again on the alt,,,

Fluids of any nature on the alternator are bad....