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I changed out my alternator a couple of days ago with advice from this forum (thanks!). However, today, about 30 minutes ago, I got into the truck (having driven it a fair amount the past couple of days) and suddenly both the power steering and brakes are super difficult, if not out, at idle and low speeds. At high revs they work fine. I immediately thought "belt" and checked, but it seems to be working fine. Anyone else had a similar problem?
Any tricks I need to know to, say, reset the tensioner?
I went out and tugged on the belt to see if it would reset. Instantly got back brakes and steering. Drove up the hill and lost brakes and steering, then got them back. So, tensioner or belt, I am guessing.
Belt APPEARS fine. Feels tight. Guessing tensioner is worn or not tensioning properly. Can I oil/grease it? Do I just replace it? Any advice greatly appreciated.
Notes about truck: It only has 67k on it, BUT it was a city work truck (I got it at auction) so who knows how many hundreds of idle hours it has on it.
Stock pulley or smaller pulley. If you went from 110a to 140a the centerline height of the pulley shaft should be about equal to the 110a. No matter what, you may have a tensioner that is corroded at the pivoting shaft and you not getting the tension you should have. Check your voltage, if its dropping too then its the belt system. PINTA at this point but removing the tensioner and checking for freedom of movement may be in the cards. Another situation is there are a few belts available that are slightly larger in diameter, if someone put a too large belt on before. A new working alternator replacing an old will require more torque.
I went out and tugged on the belt to see if it would reset. Instantly got back brakes and steering. Drove up the hill and lost brakes and steering, then got them back. So, tensioner or belt, I am guessing.
Belt APPEARS fine. Feels tight. Guessing tensioner is worn or not tensioning properly. Can I oil/grease it? Do I just replace it? Any advice greatly appreciated.
Notes about truck: It only has 67k on it, BUT it was a city work truck (I got it at auction) so who knows how many hundreds of idle hours it has on it.
Thanks!
Simple way to find out engine hours is to press the trip odometer reset button the number of times needed until the engine hour count appears in the odometer window. With respect to your brake and steering problem, it would appear your power steering pump is wearing out.
I would also when your checking things see how well each of the idlers turn and if they squeak.
M-chan, Got a side question for you. Sort of reminded me when I put the belt routing image up.
Is ther eany reason to what bolt goes where on the power steering pump? I pulled mine and did not note locations.
I would flush the power steering fluid as a first pass. I had intermittent loss of power steering that was cured via a flush. Power steering and brakes are tied together via the hydroboost system.
Simple way to find out engine hours is to press the trip odometer reset button the number of times needed until the engine hour count appears in the odometer window. With respect to your brake and steering problem, it would appear your power steering pump is wearing out.
WOW! That's worth knowing. Thanks!
4389 engine hours. Meaning if they drove them all then they would have had to have been going 15 mph on average. Now, the good news is that this was a city truck, so the average speed WAS actually likely pretty low (but probably not THAT low). Let's assume 30 mph average. That would mean that this truck idled for 2000 hours (or the equivilent of another 66k miles at an average of 30 - these numbers are rough, btw).
Stock pulley or smaller pulley. If you went from 110a to 140a the centerline height of the pulley shaft should be about equal to the 110a. No matter what, you may have a tensioner that is corroded at the pivoting shaft and you not getting the tension you should have. Check your voltage, if its dropping too then its the belt system. PINTA at this point but removing the tensioner and checking for freedom of movement may be in the cards. Another situation is there are a few belts available that are slightly larger in diameter, if someone put a too large belt on before. A new working alternator replacing an old will require more torque.
Replaced with single 130A motorcraft rebuild that APPEARED identical to the one it replaced. Interesting point about the more torque...
At present the truck is working fine. Seems that resetting the tensioner worked. HOWEVER, it's a relatively cheap part. Went to get one at OReilly yesterday, though, and it didn't have the locking tab. Any idea where I get one that will have that because it is SUPER convenient.
I would also when your checking things see how well each of the idlers turn and if they squeak.
M-chan, Got a side question for you. Sort of reminded me when I put the belt routing image up.
Is ther eany reason to what bolt goes where on the power steering pump? I pulled mine and did not note locations.
Thinking that I will at the very least pull mine and check to see how well it is working. Couldn't work on it last night because the truck was too hot.
4389 engine hours. Meaning if they drove them all then they would have had to have been going 15 mph on average. Now, the good news is that this was a city truck, so the average speed WAS actually likely pretty low (but probably not THAT low). Let's assume 30 mph average. That would mean that this truck idled for 2000 hours (or the equivilent of another 66k miles at an average of 30 - these numbers are rough, btw).
Is that bad?
Seems a bit low to me - lots of idling. I have twice the mileage and just over 3k hours, but I suppose if there's been regular servicing plus the occasional full throttle to clear everything out and stretch the turbo...
BT73 is the tensioner for the dual alternator system. BT70 is the one for the single alternator motors. A Motorcraft replacement should have the kickstand, but I’m not going to speculate on that.
At 4389 hours, that math equates to about 109,725 miles of driven mileage wear on the engine, as well as anything else that is driven by the engine including the power steering pump.
I would also when your checking things see how well each of the idlers turn and if they squeak.
M-chan, Got a side question for you. Sort of reminded me when I put the belt routing image up.
Is ther eany reason to what bolt goes where on the power steering pump? I pulled mine and did not note locations.
I'm not sure I understand your question Sean. If I remember correctly, there are three 10mm bolts all three of which are identical lengths. There are four holes on the the pump. The one that remains empty is the one where the pressure line entering the pump on the bottom front end of the pump obstructs the hole unless the line is removed from the pump.
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