Hi everyone,

My battle to keep my daughter's boyfriends's Bonneville alive continues. A couple weeks ago it was the fuel pump. With help from members on this site I was able to accurately diagnose that was the issue and get it replaced. THANKS for the help.

The car is a 1998 Bonneville SE with 3.8 litre and about 290,000 miles. The latest issue is the power steering pump has literally sheered the shaft and the pulley fell off. I know the rack leaks, but they have done a decent job of keeping the resevoir full. Any idea why this shaft would fail given that the pump is only about 4 months old? I was told by a mechanic that they need to run light weight fluid in the pump, but we were running Lucas Power Steering Pump Additive to keep the rack seals from leaking so much. Not sure if the pump they had installed was new or a new used one...

I just want to keep the car running a few more months so they can save towards a new vehicle. Any input would be appreciated. I hope to install a new pump from AutoZone or similar store tonight. I assume their pumps are as good as anyone elses.

I would also appreciate any guidance to the quickest/easiest way to replace this pump. I am mechanically inclined and have a good variety of tools, but I have not installed a power steering pump on this car so I am not sure what the most efficient way is to do this.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Erik

While you can replace it from the top, most people prefer to go in through the passenger side wheel well to take it out. I believe the reman PS pumps don't come with a new pulley, so you'll have to use or rent a pulley puller to get the pulley off of the old pump and onto the new one. Other than that, I think it's just a few bolts, the feed and return lines, and a lot of swearing. Search Lesabre in Buffalo, I think he has a writeup or at least a large thread when he replaced his pump.

Edit, looks like you may have to get a new pulley unless you can get the shaft off the old one. I didn't see the first time where you said it sheared off.

_________________



Joseph

Current: 2013 Infiniti G37 Journey
1999 Infiniti G20T - Sold
1999 Buick Lesabre - Race Couch - gone but not forgotten

Just to get by? Grab a junkyard unit - cheap, no worries about quality, no messing with the pulley.

_________________
Boost addict


The Fleet:
'93 SSEi - Twincharged + manual Build thread
'97 Camaro - Top swap
'05 STS - V8, AWD, her DD
'92 Trofeo - Fair weather DD
'99 Montana - top swap 3800
'04 Sierra 2500HD - LLY Duramax

Current project:
Something cool, trust me.

Upcoming projects:
'92 Bonneville SSE
'87 LeSabre T-type
'67 LeSabre

Gone to greener pastures:
'84 Sierra Classic - Twin turbo 3800
'97 LeSabre - Top swap

RIP:
'86 LeSabre - pictures
'93 SE - L67

I agree with this... I used an 05-06 unit on my 95 Trans Sport 3800 powered van with no issues...

I will do the same with my 95 Bonneville when the time comes..

A junk yard unit should be easy to come by as there are millions of them out there...

Don't agree with buying a JY pump. A re-manufactured PS pump after core return cost only $50.00. Just have to swap the pulley.

Remanufactured pumps don't have the pulley, the pulley puller alone costs more than a JY pump. Not to mention the vice you need to hold the pump while you reef on the puller bolt. The OEM pumps will last, even if they are used. Heck my '86 still had the original pump and the L67 pump I've got has over 300k miles on it (and it's run dry for half an hour).

_________________
Boost addict


The Fleet:
'93 SSEi - Twincharged + manual Build thread
'97 Camaro - Top swap
'05 STS - V8, AWD, her DD
'92 Trofeo - Fair weather DD
'99 Montana - top swap 3800
'04 Sierra 2500HD - LLY Duramax

Current project:
Something cool, trust me.

Upcoming projects:
'92 Bonneville SSE
'87 LeSabre T-type
'67 LeSabre

Gone to greener pastures:
'84 Sierra Classic - Twin turbo 3800
'97 LeSabre - Top swap

RIP:
'86 LeSabre - pictures
'93 SE - L67

What I realized is that I had replaced this pump last October so the guys at AutoZone gave me a replacment at no charge AND swapped out the pulley for me at no charge. Call me a dumb ass for not remembering, but I work on a lot of cars and other stuff. I vaguely remembered doing this. They were able to check at AutoZone and gave me a new one without a receipt since they had record of it in their system. Very cool... Now I need to figure out if the pump failure was caused by a defective pump or something else.