Replacing a power steering pump for $464??
 

Someone please help me out here. I just took my truck to midas (because it's next to my office) and they said the serpentine belt has been shredding because of the power steering shaft is moving in and out on the pump. He showed it to me and claims that is why the belt is working off the pulleys which seems to make sense.

He gave me a quote of $127 for parts (advance has it for $44 with the reservoir) and $282 for labor. Is replacing a power steering pump really this hard? I'm a little nervous to do it myself because of this labor charge, it must be complicated or hard to do right? I'm reading online and it doesn't look that difficult plus I have a chilton at home but am worried I'm missing something.

Is this really a job for the shop or can your average person do this?

find out how many hours they say it will take...i dunno if you will need to blead the ps lines after replaceing the pump i think you will but i've never had to do one though...also i'm going to assume that your a female? sorry if im wrong but mechanics will prey on females and tell them that its going to cost way more then it should, also the part price diffrence is because of the mark up i'd say this place is trying to rook you but then agane i hate takeing my stuff to the mechanics...i say they all rook people

How much play is in the shaft? The two pumps I have both have maybe 1/16" of play in and out, maybe slightly more. Can you see it move in and out while the engine is running with the belt on?

Midas is getting in your pocket real good.
It is not a hard job. You do not need to bleed anything, it will bleed its self.
You will need to borrow a power steering pump puller to remove and instal the pulley. Advance, or Auto Zone should have these in their tool loaner program.
Just take care that when you are done, the pulley is in line with the other pulleys in the system, or it will shred the belt.
Take your time, and work careful. This one is not rocket science.
You could take the oportunity to upgrade to a better pump, that will not howl all the time, and will decrease the effort needed to turn the wheel. The cost of the pump is a little more than the stock one. There are a couple of different ways to do this. Do a seach to find the info.
Good Luck Frank

Couldn`t agree more. Your manual will guide you. But pay attention to what EPNC says first.

Replacing a power steering pump is not a difficult job at all. With the prices auto repair places charge you would think every job is difficult, but they have to make money. As long as they are honest and charge a competitive rate you cannot knock them for charging enough to make money. The only way to still own a vehicle and avoid their high charges is to invest in some good tools, a manual, and do the work yourself.

Is the P/S pump really the problem, or could it be something else?

Before spending the green for a replacement P/S pump, take a look at the belt tensioner.

The bearing in this little darlin' is notorious for failing. That causes the belt to fray, because the tensioners shaft moves in/out, while its pulley is doing the hula.

Wiggle the pulley by hand back/forth in/out (with the engine off...of course :))...there should be zero play.

If the pulley wobbles around...it's time for a new tensioner.
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EDIT: Replacing the P/S pump:

The P/S pump pulley must be pressed off and on. It doesn't just come off by hand.

This means if you do not have a P/S pump pulley removal tool, you have to take the old pump with you when you replace it, so its pulley can be installed on the new pump.

Hopefully, the autoparts store you are buying the pump from has a machine shop to accomplish this.

I agree that the belt tensioner is the most likely cause of the problem, but I had a PS pump in my Explorer that went to hell and caused the same problem.

Thanks everyone for contributing. Here's what's been done so far, maybe it will help clarify what's still left to do that may fix it.

New within the last week:

air pump
tensioner
p/s sulley

It's weird becasue the belt shreds like 1 rib off then seems to stop. It's frayed and looks pretty tattered. The belt appears to run more towards the radiator side on the crank and radiator fan but on the alternator, ps pump, tensioner the belt seems to be running more on the engine side of the pulleys. If there is play in the ps shaft, could that cause the belt to run off center? I may post some pics since it's tough to explain.

Midas is wrong
 

The play in the PS shaft will not drive the belt off.

Find what is not in allignment with the engine off and a stright edge.

There is play in all ps pumps.
The only thing that will drive a belt off is a pulley with no play that is not in allignment with the other pulleys

Make sure that the PS pulley was driven all of the way on so the shaft in the middle is flush with the front of the pulley.

Make sure the air pump is installed correctle

on 1 of my trucks, the mounts to the engine was loose. I tightened everything, and put on the better grade of belt, and have had no more trouble. some play in the pump is normal, I wouldn't replace it unless it was leaking oil really bad.

All the pulleys should line up when you look down across them from the side of the vehicle, if one of them is skewed find out why, maybe one of the accessory brackets is incorrectly mounted.

Even if you hire it out, find another shop to do it.
My experience is that Midas charges up to twice what many others will for the job.