Date:         Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:43:58 -0500
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Power steering pump rebuild kit?
In-Reply-To:  <53B3257B-5391-4BD7-A7E3-7352665571C0@shaw.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

RE mechanic confirmed—this often means nothing. Last week my chainsaw
wouldn't start. It needed two small coil springs over the pawls that engage
the flywheel when you pull the cord. I took it to the best Stihl mechanic in
town. "You'll have to pull the flywheel, push out these two pins from the
back, install the springs underneath, push the pins back in and put it all
back together. And you need a special puller so we'll have to do it. $80
bucks."

I asked if the springs couldn't simply be threaded on like a keyring over
the levers. He said "nope."

I bought the two springs and went home to try it. It took five minutes of my
time and cost $2.70.

Mechanics are trained, very well trained, most of them, to fix problems but
not necessarily to solve problems. It helps if you get in there are at least
be their partner in trying to solve the problem. It may take you a long
time, but you learn a lot, and you catch a lot of things that don't ever get
caught in a classroom.

Regarding the PS pump problems you are having—and if your mechanic turns out
to be right, we might all be having—the pump seems to be a good candidate
for hooking up to a bench vise and turning with a belt or even a drill. If
you had the banjo fittings, you would know if it was pumping and whether or
not it was making noise outside of the environment of being installed in
your car, where other things like the condition of the rack and hoses could
come into play. In a bench test, you could simply turn the pump and
circulate the fluid between the pump and a can. You could add a level of
sophistication by installing a valve and a pressure gauge to see if it made
noise under load.

Jim

On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 1:20 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> jeez John, I think I have asked you 2 times if you were sure it was the
> pump making the noise, and you said a mechanic confirmed it was the pump....
> :)
>
> I hope it is a blocked line, but be sure you have the stock fittings on
> line at pump, is there not a restrictor in one line?
>
> alistair
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2011-08-15, at 8:06 AM, John Rodgers wrote:
>
> > Mike, thanks.
> >
> > I had come to the conclusion it was not the pump but something else. I
> > have a spare, unused, new in the package "Rebuilt by Mavel"  PS rack and
> > will put that on, as well follow your suggestion to blow the lines - and
> > before the new rack goes on. The current rack - also a Rebuilt by Mavel
> > part - should be good, but who knows. I did drive it for quite sometime
> > without a PS pump - just no drive belt. Who knows what that may have
> > done. With new pump, new rack, and hoses blown clear,  I should have it
> > covered. I hope!
> >
> > John
> >
> > John Rodgers
> > Clayartist and Moldmaker
> > 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> > Chelsea, AL
> > Http://www.moldhaus.com
> >
> >
> > On 8/15/2011 7:35 AM, Mike Riley wrote:
> >> chances of 3 bad pumps are very low I would look for a restriction due
> to a piece of a pump jammed in the lines. disconnect all of them and blow
> backwards to the flow with high volume compressed air.
> >> mike
> >>
> >>
>