Radiator fan hitting power steering pulley

Yesterday I started the Taco and noticed a clicking I hadn’t ever heard before. I popped the hood and right away noticed the fan was hitting the power steering pulley. I shut it down and started poking around to see if I could determine what was going on. As far as I know this was the very first time this has happened.

The only thing I found was one of the fan blades were coming into contact with the very edge of the PS pulley. The other fan blades were missing it, but only by about the thickness of a sheet of paper. The other two pulleys have more like 1/4” and 3/8” clearance with the lowest pulley having about 3/8” clearance. It appears as though something has shifted so that the plane of the fan blades is no longer parallel with the pulley/belt plane. The fan seems fine. It isn’t loose and appears to stick out the same amount all the way around the shroud.

I didn’t see any obvious cause so I did a few TW searches with no luck finding an identical issue. I did get some ideas about what to check, but I still haven’t been able to determine exactly what’s going on. The one thing I did notice is that the pulley at the PS pump seems like it is not in the same plane as the other two pulleys. It looks like its plane is 1/4” or so forward of the plane the other two pulleys. If it was back 1/4” everything would be fine. I’ve never fooled around with this area so I’m unsure if the individual pulley could shift forward somehow or if there are adjustments I could make to the pilley to get it back about 1/4" or so.

Any ideas?

 

Did you check to see if the pulley bolt is loose?

 

I did put a wrench on it, but the whole belt/fan system moved as well. The bolt wasn’t obviously loose. Is there a way to prevent the whole system from moving if I tried to give it a little more muscle? If the bolt is not fully seated would the pulley be expected to have some play? The area between the back of the pulley and the pump may have some excess space. The more I look at it the more I think the problem is somehow this pulleys position.

 

It could be something to do with the tensioner system that the power steering pump is mounted to. Depends on if it was assembled together improperly or not.

 

Suggest to remove the belt, then examine the fan, fan pulley, water pump.......look for looseness, excessive play, missing bolts/nuts.

Get the belt tension off the system then diagnosis will be easier. You will need to get in there. No way will the forum be able to diagnose from that picture. Many guesses will be offered.

How many miles on that '96?
When was the belt/pulley system serviced?
Water pump been replaced?

 

If nothing came loose bad bearing in the water pump.

Any idea how old it might be?

Use two wrenches to tighten or loosen the fan clutch

 

Your power steering still works, correct?
I’ve seen plenty of Chevy pumps shear the pump shaft and then the pulley moves forward like that but the pump isn’t working at that point..

 

Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it.

I took off the fan shroud and loosened the tension on the belt. I was about to see if I could snug the pulley up by tightening the bolt, but I realized the pulley could be pushed in and pulled out with little effort. I’m guessing the bolt is stripped although I’m having a tough time imagining how that could happen.

Anyone experienced this issue? I'm pretty new to working on my rig and I could use any input to get pointed in the right direction.

 

You need a pulley holding tool to hold the pulley while tightening the bolt, and ideally you use a torque wrench to get the correct torque. 43 N-m (32 ft-lbs) from the 1996 repair manual for 4 cylinder.

The pulley holding tool has 2 rods that you hold in the holes on the pulley to hold it. It's similar to a crank pulley holder except you don't thread the bolts into the pulley. See this thread for some pictures of what it might look like.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/homemade-crank-pulley-tool.140646/

 

If I was there I would be looking to see if it’s the pulley moving on the shaft or the shaft moving in and out of the pump. If the bolt is still there and tight I’m betting that the pump is coming apart internally.

 

It appears to be the entire shaft moving. It came right out and started leaking PS fluid everywhere. I quickly put it back so as to stop the leaking. I haven't had a chance to dig any deeper yet. I may have some time to get the pump off over the weekend.

I knew the PS pump was due for some attention at some point soon, it's original and has 207K on it. It had been noisy, but I did several fluid changes and it seemed to get better.

I'm thankful the issue happened when I parked it. I'd hate to imagine what might have happened had I been driving down the highway!

 

Sounds like your p/s pump came apart, kinda rare but it does happen. Heck its only been on there for 25 yrs!

 

Your truck can be driven without PS.

Yes, it will take more effort to turn the steering wheel, but you can steer. Manual steering requires less effort when the truck is rolling.

So, loss of PS while driving is not a panic situation.

 

His pump is coming apart though. If he loses the drive belt it will overheat and cause more damage

 

Granted.

He can still safely steer it to the side of the road in the event of a highway failure.

 

I guess the point is moot since he’s getting a new pump but I’ve had success with a strap wrench on PS pump and AC compressor

 

water pump is driven by timing belt so overheating would just be from idling too long with no fan.


At this time of year I could prob. run all over town w/o a fan.

I get off fans with an 1-1/4" open end wrench hit sharply with a hammer.

 

I wasn’t worried about the steering going out, I was imagining the pulley coming out further or all the way and busting the fan sending shrapnel everywhere. Anyway, I can’t think of a better spot to break down than in my garage. Super stoked on that!

I managed to get the pump out. The vane pump shaft is completely free and it can be pulled out. I’m thinking whatever retains it must have failed. I’m looking over the FSM diagram of the pump and wondering what part actually holds it in. I’m considering rebuilding it, but it looks a bit intimidating. I can think about it over the weekend, but I’m hoping to get it figured out so I can order parts on Monday.

Are there any other items I should consider replacing while I have the pump out? There is quite a bit of caked on crud in the area where the PS mounting bracket attaches to the engine. Can I just remove the bracket to clean up the area? Any idea where to look in the FSM for torque specs of these bolts?

 

Suggest to continue with the disassembly to find the failed part. The key is to discover if the part was in the fluid path. If it was, then it could have dumped metal fragments into the fluid stream.......which could lodge anywhere.

Just replace the unit. It is worn out. Hope the failed part didn't put metal frags in the system. The autopsy is to discover what failed and if metal frags got into the system.

Metal frags could lead to other failures or flushing or part replacements.......essentially more work.

 

Look in the Steering chapter of the factory repair manual, then the Vane Pump section. It will give all the torque values and how to rebuilt. It might be worth just getting a replacement.