Roe Power Steering Pulley Question

[SA HEAT]

I just finished installing a Roe power steering pulley and bracket on my GTS. Everything came off and went on easy and straight but there is a slight wobble at the outer edge of the Roe pulley when the car is idling...maybe 1mm runout at the most and you can't see it when the motor is revved above idle. The new pulley is flush with the end of the pump shaft, it's lined up perfectly with the other pulleys, and the belt is seated well...the edge of the pulley just wobbles a little. Any opinions on if I should be worried about this? I'm more worried about it wearing the power steering pump out prematurely than throwing a belt.

 

[RobZilla]

Someone will probably chime in but just call Sean in the am.

 

[MTGTS]

any chance of taking a vid?

 

[SA HEAT]

any chance of taking a vid?

I wish I could....don't have the camera!

 

[plumcrazy]

might have been doing it before the swap but with the shiny new pulley, its more obvious

 

[SA HEAT]

Someone will probably chime in but just call Sean in the am.

Yeah, I'll do that...I was just hoping someone might have had something similar on theirs.

 

[Red Snake]

I put the Roe bracket and pulley on mine and there is no wobble. Yours must not be on straight.

 

[ViperTony]

This happened to me when I didn't put the pulley on straight.

 

[SA HEAT]

This happened to me when I didn't put the pulley on straight.

Explain how the pulley can get pushed onto the pump shaft all the way to where the front edge of the shaft and front edge of the pulley are flush and not be on straight...there's no tolerance between the pulley and the shaft that would allow any wiggle room.

 

[ViperTony]

Explain how the pulley can get pushed onto the pump shaft all the way to where the front edge of the shaft and front edge of the pulley are flush and not be on straight...there's no tolerance between the pulley and the shaft that would allow any wiggle room.

Just telling you what happened to me, get over it.

 

[SA HEAT]

Just telling you what happened to me, get over it.

Wow....you took that entirely wrong.

 

[eucharistos]

.....there's no tolerance between the pulley and the shaft that would allow any wiggle room.

Just telling you what happened to me, get over it.

Wow....you took that entirely wrong.

you did call him intolerant after all



jk,


are you sure it is not a lighting "mirage" as

you can't see it when the motor is revved above idle

 

[SA HEAT]

are you sure it is not a lighting "mirage" as

I was thinking the same thing, but I put the end of a pencil up to the edge while holding it still against the reservior and there's definitely some runout...it seems to be more on the motor side of the pulley and very little on the front side.

 

[eucharistos]

do you have calipers, (this kind)

You must be registered for see images attach

maybe the pulley is round and the the lip is slightly bent out (hoping it turns out to be nothing)

your phone call to sean should be helpful

 

[SA HEAT]

do you have calipers, (this kind)

You must be registered for see images attach

maybe the pulley is round and the the lip is slightly bent out (hoping it turns out to be nothing)

your phone call to sean should be helpful

I don't have a caliper.....and this isn't the first time I've needed one, so it's on the to-buy list for sure. I'll call Sean tomorrow...thanks!

 

[ViperTony]

Wow....you took that entirely wrong.

Yeah, I guess I did...how dare you call me intolerant. In all seriousness, sorry for my knee-**** reaction. All I can add is that my pulley went on crooked. I blame it on a combination of a crappy pulley pusher and debris on the shaft that made a slight...hairline change to the pulley angle (miniscule). In fact, it was the late Dave Cawthorne that diagnosed it for me. I removed the Roe pulley and purchased Dave's, LOL.

I'll put the obvious things to consider:

- A bent/warped pulley
- A bent pulley shaft (Although I imagine the entire PS pump assembly would break apart before the pulley shaft would bend).
- Maybe the power steering bracket is not torqued down? Did you check the PS Pump mounting bolts.

You could try placing a straight edge across the pulley to see if it's out of round as well.

 

[RT/ED]

In case the Gen I owners are wondering, the pulley on the power steering pump is steel, not plastic. At least a magnet sticks to my 95 which tells me the pulley won't fail like on the Gen II's. The instructor at Viper Days highly recommends changing out the plastic pulleys before catosrophic failure. However, not sure about the pump bracket on Gen I's. Anyone know about the Gen I bracket failing??

 

[SA HEAT]

Yeah, I guess I did...how dare you call me intolerant. In all seriousness, sorry for my knee-**** reaction. All I can add is that my pulley went on crooked. I blame it on a combination of a crappy pulley pusher and debris on the shaft that made a slight...hairline change to the pulley angle (miniscule). In fact, it was the late Dave Cawthorne that diagnosed it for me. I removed the Roe pulley and purchased Dave's, LOL.

I'll put the obvious things to consider:

- A bent/warped pulley
- A bent pulley shaft (Although I imagine the entire PS pump assembly would break apart before the pulley shaft would bend).
- Maybe the power steering bracket is not torqued down? Did you check the PS Pump mounting bolts.

You could try placing a straight edge across the pulley to see if it's out of round as well.

Thanks, Tony...I didn't get a chance to talk to Roe today (called too late after hours), but I think it's either has to be a warped pulley or like you said, it somehow went on a little off kilter. Watching the shaft spin, it looks true, so I don't think it's bent. Also, I torqued everything down to Roe's specs and the pump and bracket are tight and straight.

Question, when your's went on crooked, did it ruin the pulley or tear the shaft up any?

 

[SA HEAT]

In case the Gen I owners are wondering, the pulley on the power steering pump is steel, not plastic. At least a magnet sticks to my 95 which tells me the pulley won't fail like on the Gen II's. The instructor at Viper Days highly recommends changing out the plastic pulleys before catosrophic failure. However, not sure about the pump bracket on Gen I's. Anyone know about the Gen I bracket failing??

Yep....along with the Gen II plastic pulley are the crap cast aluminum mounting bracket and self-ejecting reservior cap. I drove my Viper home after buying it in Houston and lifted the hood to find the power steering cap missing (later found wedged in the firewall behind the motor) and power steering fluid leaked around the exhaust manifold. I'm very lucky the car didn't burn up before I got it home.....Dodge dropped the ball on the power steering pump assembly on the Gen IIs, no doubt.

 

[Martin]

I'm really surprised that they didn't do a recall on the whole power steering assembly. Just about everyone I know who owns an early Gen II has had the pulley break and the reservoir cap fly off at least once. Either one of those failures is obviously a safety hazard. Losing your steering power assist is bad enough, but when that pulley goes, you also lose your engine cooling. Mine went on me when I was driving uphill on a two-lane canyon road (heavily frequented by all the crazy drivers in the region) with no safe turnouts for about a half mile. By the time I got to a safe place to stop and cool down, I was way into the red.

The reservoir cap went a few times with a loud 'bang' so I immediately pulled over. I had some PS fluid sprayed around, too - and dangerously close to the exhaust manifold. I had another car catch on fire when the PS fluid sprayed onto the exhaust manifold, so I know how easy it is for that stuff to ignite...

 

[ViperTony]

Question, when your's went on crooked, did it ruin the pulley or tear the shaft up any?

No, it didn't tear up the shaft but there was a scratch on it where the tiniest of debris got caught between the pulley shaft. A tiny filing got caught in there.

 

[SA HEAT]

No, it didn't tear up the shaft but there was a scratch on it where the tiniest of debris got caught between the pulley shaft. A tiny filing got caught in there.

Got it, thanks!

 

[dave6666]

Glad to see you ladies worked it out --->>

 

[RTTTTed]

No, it didn't tear up the shaft but there was a scratch on it where the tiniest of debris got caught between the pulley shaft. A tiny filing got caught in there.

I was going to point this out as well. The shaft often gets scratched while removing the old pulley and if you didn't file/sand to make certain that the shaft was smooth you could easily miss it. Only way to be sure is Re&Re ... again.

If the problem is merely a slight imperfection in the outer ring of the pulley I might be tempted to hold a file against it, but it could be merely a shipping dent. Might be best to try to straighten it (tap lightly with a hammer) or ignore it.

Ted

 

[SA HEAT]

I was going to point this out as well. The shaft often gets scratched while removing the old pulley and if you didn't file/sand to make certain that the shaft was smooth you could easily miss it. Only way to be sure is Re&Re ... again.

If the problem is merely a slight imperfection in the outer ring of the pulley I might be tempted to hold a file against it, but it could be merely a shipping dent. Might be best to try to straighten it (tap lightly with a hammer) or ignore it.

Ted

I took the belt off last night and slowly spun the pulley and it sure does look like the pulley is warped. It's like it runs out from nothing to a millimeter and back in a half turn, if that makes any sense.

I'm going to rent the puller again this weekend and remove the pulley and take a look at everything. If I can't see anything obvious like a scratch or piece of trash, I'll make sure everything is clean and try marking where I have it now and turn it 90 degrees and put it back on again to see if that helps. If it turns out to be the pulley, Roe agreed to exchange it which is nice.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Don't bite my head off like ViperTony did yours, but could it be an optical illusion? Seems to me if it was wobbling the belt would fly off at higher revs.




j/k Tony.

 

[AZTVR]

I'm going to rent the puller again this weekend and remove the pulley and take a look at everything. If I can't see anything obvious like a scratch or piece of trash, I'll make sure everything is clean and try marking where I have it now and turn it 90 degrees and put it back on again to see if that helps. If it turns out to be the pulley, Roe agreed to exchange it which is nice.

My 2 cents: If you put the pulley back on and the belt itself is not moving front to back or up and down at or near the pulley, then I wouldn't bother with pulling it off again. The lip is slightly bent or possibly thicker in a spot. I'm sure that it will become obvious when you have it off, if there is a real issue.

These kind of things bug me also. You know that 95.8% of all mechanics that would have done this job would either never notice it, or would not replace it, and you would never know the difference. (You just hate to be looking at the exact reason why you might have some failure 20,000 miles down the road, and do nothing about it.)

 

[SA HEAT]

Don't bite my head off like ViperTony did yours, but could it be an optical illusion? Seems to me if it was wobbling the belt would fly off at higher revs.

It's definitely not an optical illusion...it's only about 1mm runout and I haven't driven it since I put on the pulley...just let it idle and a little revving it manually from under the hood.

 

[SA HEAT]

My 2 cents: If you put the pulley back on and the belt itself is not moving front to back or up and down at or near the pulley, then I wouldn't bother with pulling it off again. The lip is slightly bent or possibly thicker in a spot. I'm sure that it will become obvious when you have it off, if there is a real issue.

These kind of things bug me also. You know that 95.8% of all mechanics that would have done this job would either never notice it, or would not replace it, and you would never know the difference. (You just hate to be looking at the exact reason why you might have some failure 20,000 miles down the road, and do nothing about it.)

It's the entire seven (at least I think it's seven) rows moving from side to side with the belt...no up or down movement I can see.

I just got through marking the pulley and shaft, pulled everything off and checked it...no scratches on the pulley or shaft, no debris, etc. I turned it 90 degrees, pushed it back on and it had exactly the same runout in the same place on the pulley....pulled it off again, turned it another 90 degrees, put it back on and it has the same runout in exactly the same place on the pulley again when spinning it on the pump. I pulled it off and used the puller tool as a platform on a bench and slowly rotated the pulley on the tool horizontally next to a ruler stood up next to it....same amount of runout again. I'm pretty sure it's a bad pulley, either a problem when it was stamped or the outer ring that holds the belt is warped or was welded on wrong. Off it goes to Roe next week for an exchange.

And I agree about the mechanics. With this particular "mod", we do it to prevent a failure from a badly designed plastic pulley. Every time I drove the car with the stock pulley I thought about the failure stories here on the Forum and being stranded or worse yet, crashing the car. If I leave it alone and let it wobble, I'll either worry about it tearing up the pump or throwing a belt (more stranded/crashing thoughts), so it has to be perfect at this point!

 

[SE7EN]

If it is one millimeter it will merely just wear the belt slightly imo (which isnt good obviously). I would guess that each rib is around 1/32 of an inch or so ( i havent measured maybe some one here has ) and that if the run out on the pulley is more the half that distance out (so half the width of a rib on the belt) it will cause some pre mature wear and belt slip issues. If it is under half a rib of run out it will cause no issue and all is well.

That is my .02

Regards