stevenenglund

1990 Accord w/ AC

For reasons yet unknown, my power steering pump seized up and the belt snapped. I tried a new belt today which was not a good idea since the pump wasn't running. I removed the belt for now.

Should/can I rebuild the power steering pump? Or can I un-seize this one? A new one is $99 but I'd like to only resort to that if rebuilding or un-seizing the current one is a pain/impossible/expensive.

On a related note, there may be a leak so is it obvious I should wait to find the link until I get the pump running again?

tim73

Have a junkyard close by? Maybe $25 you could get one there. Also, make sure you use honda power steering fluid.

lazlong

Just get a salvage pump, install it, fill it with Honda fluid only, search for the leak and fix it.

They're running $25-50 at the salvage yard. Nationwide salvage listings: http://www.car-part.com/

holmesnmanny

The best way to do it is find a car with the same pump and make sure there are no leaks and that the reservoir is full. If it's not full it probably has a leak and the pump could already be bad.

You can also get a rebuild kit for $15 and get a new ps bearing and rebuild your own already. It'll probably cost the same as a junkyard model and it'll last longer as well.

mrj_accord

^^junkyards have to drain fluids, plus they are required by law to remove the cat and not sell it to anyone.
well thats what they told me when i went to harrys u-pull-it in pennsylvania.
just make sure the pump is clean from any fluids all over it.

stevenenglund

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the best option for me is to try the local salvage yard first, if they don't have one in stock I'll look into the rebuild kit. Bummer they might drain the reservoir so I won't know if the part is good or not. I'll try to just find a good looking clean one.

What's the best method to find where the leak is? I've heard to wipe everything clean then look for the drip or use UV dye? And isn't there a method where I crank the wheels left and right?

lazlong

Clean it all down, replace the pump, refill with fluid, turn car on and look for leak. If you see no leak then turn the wheel, which puts more pressure on the system.

You will have to turn the steering wheel lock-to-lock at least several time to bleed the system anyways.

Lost Again

The money they make on selling the old cat's,,,,,,,. There are plenty of companies thay will pay nice $'s for used cat's.

mrj_accord

yep!!
they pay a pretty penny for the cats because of the rare metals inside of it.
there has been alot of these being stolen off of SUV's here in nyc. since they sit taller than a car, theives slide under the SUV with a electric saw and chop it off. happened to my gf dad, they hacked it off his 2000 4runner.
**** THEIVES!!!