It appears that I need a new power steering pump for my 2014 Sport. There is fluid dripping out of the pump just behind the pulley.

Story goes like this. For as long as I can remember, probably 9 years, I have occasionally had a screeching / knocking noise on cold starts, especially in the winter. I finally decided to try and fix the problem. I managed to get a good deal on a tensioner, pulleys and serpentine belt so I though I would try changing those. At 70K miles I figured if that did not fix the noise I would just consider it routine maintenance. Having a new belt and tensioner meant that everything was now tighter and for a few weeks I was not getting any noise at startup so I thought all was good.

Today I was running an errand and I heard a strange noise under the hood. The noise turned out to be my serpentine belt shredding. Fortunately I was not far away and I managed to get the car home. Although I had no power steering for the last couple of miles. From reading some of the other threads I believe my pump failed and that caused the belt to shred.

With this being a holiday weekend I don't know how long it will take a repair shop to repair my car. I'm debating replacing the pump myself. If I do so, should I change any of the hoses attached to it? Those of you that have changed a pump. How difficult of a job is it to replace it? Is this one of those jobs where it's better to just pay someone to do it? If I have a repair shop do it how much can I expect to pay?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide some guidance.

 

Should the pulley on the power steering pump turn easily? Mine requires a good push, it does not turn freely.
Is it normal to be leaking lots of fluid when a pump fails?
How about flushing the power steering system before changing pump how important is that?
Sorry for all the questions.

 

So I started this repair. Sort of regretting it. It's going fairly well but getting one of the three rear mounting bolts and the low pressure hose off are causing me problems. Would appreciate if anyone might be able to help.

 

Sorry, just saw this.

As you are unfortunately discovering, it takes a lot of patience and the right tools to get this off...especially the three rear mounting bolts. Unfortunately, the only advice I can offer is the one I hate..."patience." I've done this twice and the first time was 8-10 hours and the second, about 6 hours. I really can offer little else than that. Just stay after it and it will come off. The old fluid makes it more difficult so use a lot of brake cleaner to clear it off so you can get better purchase on those bolts.

 

Thanks. I got the two easy rear mounting bolts off but the third one seems impossible. Can't see it at all. Any idea what kind of socket or wrench used back there?

 

I believe I uses a short offset box end wrench. Turning about 1/1000th at a time. It was frustrating. After breaking it loose, I think a stubby 1/4in with small extender and two universal joints got it to a point I could use my fingers.

 

Thanks. I believe I almost have the pump removed except for that one bolt and the low pressure hose seems stuck. I'm getting to the point where I may put everything back together and take it to a repair shop.

 

Nobody that has done this would blame you. It is VERY tedious and no matter how many tools, seems you never have the right one. I am convinced it would be easier without the stupid pulley in the way but it just wasn't designed to be readily serviced.
If you have a buddy near by, it may be worth a beer to have another pair of hands try it. It worked for me the first time.

 

Right, I'm starting to worry that if I get the darn thing out I won't be able to assemble it again.

 

It is not a piece of cake but does go on easier.

 

I was going to say, if you’re asking this question you probably shouldn’t be doing it..

If you’re that close to getting it off ya might as well continue.

 

Thanks for your help and encouragement Lt Leary. The bolt won, after trying for a couple of hours to remove it I gave up and put everything back together. You are correct the assembly was easier.

For the most part things went relatively smoothly. The two main issues I had were that 13mm bolt on the back bracket and getting the low pressure hose off. I didn't spend too much time on the hose but it certainly was not going to slip off easily. I believe those were the only things preventing me from getting the pump out. With the holiday weekend the repair shops are not going to get much done until Monday. Depending how I feel I may purchase various 13mm wrenches and sockets and give it another go.

For anyone who wants to tackle this job the good news is that you will spend much of your time laying on your back, unless of course you have a lift. The most difficult part is removing that 16mm bolt on the back bracket. The other two bolts back there are 12mm and relatively easy to remove. So before you take too many things apart see if you are able to at least loosen that bolt. Some sort of short offset 16mm wrench my be your best bet.

 

It's not a matter of my not having the tools or the knowledge. It's just accessing that single bolt. It may be easier if the car is on a lift.
My advise to others would be unless you have a lot of time, patience and tools take your car to a repair shop.

 

I think even Mr. O from South Main Auto would find this challenging even if he had the special "Nissan Tool for that stupid bolt!"
Just be aware you may have to do this again. New doesnt always mean "good." My first was new aftermarket from autozone. It wasnt good, had wobble on the pulley which ate belts. I got a reman from napa that worked and havent eaten another belt...even if it does whine a bit at high rpm.

I have to admit i was tempted to replace belts every 1000 miles as that was much easier to do!! But, I just couldnt let it go. So a lot of creative cussing and time, got it done.

Best of luck on whatever way you choose to proceed.

 

I have a new Hitachi pump coming from Amazon. Don't want to take any chances. That's assuming I ever get the old unit out. One more question. Did the washers for the high pressure hose come with the pump? I expect they would not. Did you reuse the old washers?

 

Trying to remember but i think you will need a short (or very long) deep offset. Hence the need for multiple 1/4 u joints adapters. But thanks for the link. I am always on the lookout for cool tools. I need to see if these come in a set.....????

 

I think I will give it another try with that tool. The repair shop would not do anything until Monday so I have a few days to see if I can get this done.

 

Do let us know how it works out for you and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

I certainly will, I expect to report good news. Happy Thanksgiving to you.

 

Good luck Mr Nopike!

 

Happy Thanksgiving Nopike! Good luck with this.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you both MaximusN8.and Bificus99 Hopefully I ordered the magic wrench that will allow me to remove that bolt.

GEARWRENCH 12 Pt. Stubby Flex Head Ratcheting Combination Wrench, 13mm - 9554

 

FingFingers crossed this will get the job done my friend. Keep us posted on the outcome.

 

Finally got that difficult rear bracket bolt loose. My nephew came over to give it a try. I was telling him how to access the bolt from the right side of the pump. Instead he went at it from the left side. This made all the difference. It's much easier to get at from that side. Don't know why I didn't think of that. It pays to have someone else approach the situation once in a while. Big thanks to my nephew.

The other thing I learned is that the bolt is a 16mm. I wish repair diagrams would list bolt sizes. A regular 16mm wrench was enough to bust the bolt open. There is not a whole lot of room in there so I ordered a 16mm Stubby Ratcheting Combination Wrench that should make removal of that bolt easy. .

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

 

GREAT NEWS! I still havent moved from the couch, but cograts!

 

Nopike,
I replaced on previous gen (05), and took good of 6 plus hours?

take pics and post up. Gl

 

I will, I wish someone who previously did this job would have done that. There are a few things that if you are not aware of that make this job difficult.
There are number of YouTube videos on this repair. But they skip over some important points.

 

and the YouT is where I got the pointers to DIY (then). The rest is a figure out.

 

Best advise I can give is if at all possible pay someone to do this job. It's worth every penny. Wish I had done that.

I managed to get the pump installed and the car is running fine now. I should really say my nephew managed to get it installed. He is much younger than I and has better manual dexterity. He was able to get at the bolts in ways that I could never do. I have done many repairs over the last 40 years. Brakes, axels, water pumps, suspensions those sort of things. Can't say I ever remember working on something that gave me so little room to work.

There is no way I am documenting the entire procedure. As far as tips are concerned.

Remove the belt tensioner.

There are three bracket bolts that need to be removed on the back of the power steering pump. The two easy ones are 13mm and the difficult one is 16mm. You may only need to loosen the large bolt and may be able to reuse the existing rear bracket. Approach all those bolts from the left side of the pump. Don't try to get at the large bolt from the right side of the pump like I did.

As far as the front bracket is concerned there are a three bolts all 13mm. One is easy to remove. The two difficult bolts are offset an inch or two behind the pulley. We got at them from the top by removing the steering fluid reservoir. and used a 1/4 ratchet. Before you can get at those bolts you have to remove a thin bracket held on by two bolts this bracket is only used to hold a cable in place.

We inserted the new pump with the rear bracket off.

Find someone who is patient and capable to help you with this job. Having two sets of eyes and hands is valuable.

If I think of anything else I'll update this post.

 

I never had to replace my power steering pump but I did have to unbolt it to remove my timing chain cover for another repair. I do remember and share everyone’s pain. There is very little room and finding the bolts was a touch and feel adventure. You can’t see them. Watch YouTube videos to get an idea where to locate the bolts with your hands. I have small hands and it still gave me trouble. I can’t imagine attempting this if you have gorilla hands. 😢 🦍

 

Glad you got through that Mr NoPike.

 

Thanks. This will surely make me stay away from repairs that seem totally inaccessible.

 

I did mine on my 5th Gen. Maxima, hardest car repair of my life! Took me about 10 hours!

Finally got it done with the rights socket and 1/4 inch stubby ratchet. NEVER AGAIN LOL!

Glad you got yours up & running.

Good luck

 

Thanks! Glad I'm not the only one that feels that way. 1/4 stubby ratchet is definitely the way to go. Don't know how anything else could fit to remove the front bracket bolts.