Belt/Power Steering Pump
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Freshman User
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 39
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From: Dallas, Tx
Belt/Power Steering Pump
FTE Friends:
I thought my battery was going dead yesterday so I took it in to my local shop for a battery check. At my local garage they found the battery to be good and strong and the starter to be dead. Since the truck now would not start at all I let them replace the starter. Waiting for the starter to be replaced I received a call from the shop letting me know that my fan/accessory belt and power steering pump both need to be replaced. They were going to be glad to do that job for about $340.00 bucks. I told them to worry about the starter and I would take care of the belt and pump later. It seems like the pump has always been a whiner and from other posts here Ford pumps seem to have that problem. I know the belt does need to be replaced. It is probably about 4 years old. Lets assume I do need a new power steering pump. How do you get the serpentine belt off of the 4.9 L engine? Is this a DIY job that I want to tackle? I do just about all of the general maintenance on this truck. By the way it is a '92 F150 4.9L, M50D with just over 130,000 miles. Runs great.
Your wise counsel is appreciated.
Charlie Moore
Dallas, Texas
I thought my battery was going dead yesterday so I took it in to my local shop for a battery check. At my local garage they found the battery to be good and strong and the starter to be dead. Since the truck now would not start at all I let them replace the starter. Waiting for the starter to be replaced I received a call from the shop letting me know that my fan/accessory belt and power steering pump both need to be replaced. They were going to be glad to do that job for about $340.00 bucks. I told them to worry about the starter and I would take care of the belt and pump later. It seems like the pump has always been a whiner and from other posts here Ford pumps seem to have that problem. I know the belt does need to be replaced. It is probably about 4 years old. Lets assume I do need a new power steering pump. How do you get the serpentine belt off of the 4.9 L engine? Is this a DIY job that I want to tackle? I do just about all of the general maintenance on this truck. By the way it is a '92 F150 4.9L, M50D with just over 130,000 miles. Runs great.
Your wise counsel is appreciated.
Charlie Moore
Dallas, Texas
Junior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 94
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From: Roscommon,Michigan
Hey CMOORE,
I'm not that familiar with the 4.9, but if it has a spring loaded tensioner like the 5.0 be sure to work it back and forth a few times to its full travel while the belt is off.Mine was a little bit stiff and didn't want to apply enough pressure on the belt. I thought I needed a new pump,too. It howled constantly. With the belt tightened it shut right up! (139,000 miles) The pump shaft will move in and out about a quarter of an inch but works like a new one now.
I'm not that familiar with the 4.9, but if it has a spring loaded tensioner like the 5.0 be sure to work it back and forth a few times to its full travel while the belt is off.Mine was a little bit stiff and didn't want to apply enough pressure on the belt. I thought I needed a new pump,too. It howled constantly. With the belt tightened it shut right up! (139,000 miles) The pump shaft will move in and out about a quarter of an inch but works like a new one now.
Junior User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 86
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Looks like I may go down to NAPA tomorow and get me an new belt. I got a whiner as well. I noticed that it whines with the rpms, and quiets down just a little with the AC running.
Since I just got the truck I will replace the belt and keep the old one in my "emergency" box. If that doesn't fix the problem I will just live with it. If it gets to the point that I want to replace the pump I will do that too.
I also just wanted to mention that this site has been realy helpful and I am glad that I found it. I just got me a real truck, I had a mini truck (toyota) before and there is no comparison.
Since I just got the truck I will replace the belt and keep the old one in my "emergency" box. If that doesn't fix the problem I will just live with it. If it gets to the point that I want to replace the pump I will do that too.
I also just wanted to mention that this site has been realy helpful and I am glad that I found it. I just got me a real truck, I had a mini truck (toyota) before and there is no comparison.
New User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 11
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serpentine belt / p-s pump
Cmoore
I thought I needed a power steering pump as well for my 89 F-150 4.9. My a/c compressor died so I decided to remove it altogether and put on the belt that fits a 4.9 without a/c. After I did that, the power steering pump started to make its usuall noise. I thought the belt was too tight because it started to "walk" off the pulley. I did lose the outer rib of the belt. It ended up wrapped around the fan blades. It turns out that the belt tensioner had bottomed out . It looked like it was doing its job but just wasn't tight enough. A shorter belt made all the difference. They sold me a 97 inch long belt, but ended up using a 96 inch long one. a 95 inch belt is too short. Believe me. Hope this helps
Big Daddy 51
I thought I needed a power steering pump as well for my 89 F-150 4.9. My a/c compressor died so I decided to remove it altogether and put on the belt that fits a 4.9 without a/c. After I did that, the power steering pump started to make its usuall noise. I thought the belt was too tight because it started to "walk" off the pulley. I did lose the outer rib of the belt. It ended up wrapped around the fan blades. It turns out that the belt tensioner had bottomed out . It looked like it was doing its job but just wasn't tight enough. A shorter belt made all the difference. They sold me a 97 inch long belt, but ended up using a 96 inch long one. a 95 inch belt is too short. Believe me. Hope this helps
Big Daddy 51
New User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 11
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belt for power steering pump
CMOORE
I forgot to mention. The belt is a DIY thing. As mentioned above, you need to put a 5/8 wrench (box end is best) on the plastic idler pulley hex bolt. I needed to piggy back another wrench onto this one to get the needed leverage. While the belt is off, it might be a good idea to mark the two halves of the bracket itself just to see what kind of tension you end up with. After installing the new belt, if the marks line up you don't have any tension on the belt. You don't need to "fish" the belt around the fan blades. They don't come into play here. Also, with the belt off, the end play on my p/s pump pulley was about 1/8 inch. This is okay. Hope this helps, good luck.
Big Daddy 51
I forgot to mention. The belt is a DIY thing. As mentioned above, you need to put a 5/8 wrench (box end is best) on the plastic idler pulley hex bolt. I needed to piggy back another wrench onto this one to get the needed leverage. While the belt is off, it might be a good idea to mark the two halves of the bracket itself just to see what kind of tension you end up with. After installing the new belt, if the marks line up you don't have any tension on the belt. You don't need to "fish" the belt around the fan blades. They don't come into play here. Also, with the belt off, the end play on my p/s pump pulley was about 1/8 inch. This is okay. Hope this helps, good luck.
Big Daddy 51
